Star Wars The Void Unleashed
by KrautVanWolfenstein
Summary: Destiny is indeed a capricious lady. A little girl struggled to find recognition, while a man was trying to find his place in the universe. From beyond the stars, their path crossed. What path will be revealed for them in the future? What does the destiny have in store for them? The answer shall be found in the world where the force and magic intertwined.
1. Prologue

**Starkiller is a very powerful individual in the Star Wars universe, and to say that I am not in love with such character is an utter lie. Unfortunately, his tale is a non-canon one. Since Starkiller's tale is a non-canon story, I want to expand his story a little bit further in this crossover. So without further ado, here is the tale of force and magic.**

**P.S: I do not own Star Wars and Familiar of Zero.**

* * *

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

_STAR WARS_

_THE VOID UNLEASHED_

_It is the turning point of the galactic civil war. DARTH VADER, the EMPEROR's right hand and dark enforcer of his will, was wounded and captured by the ALLIANCE after a pyrrhic victory on the battle of Kamino. Even though the ALLIANCE lost its third fleet in the process, the capture and destruction of the cloning facility on Timira City have dealt a major blow to the EMPIRE. As the ocean swallowed the once mighty city, its dark secrets and depraved experiments are forever lost in the cold depth of the aquatic planet._

_Losing his apprentice and one of the EMPIRE's major cloning facilities, the EMPEROR enacted galactic state of emergency. Fleets after fleets of star destroyers patrol relentlessly all over the galaxy and garrisons after garrisons of stormtroopers are stationed in major strategic planets under the EMPIRE control. The empire law is harsher than ever, with anyone suspected is directly apprehended. The ALLIANCE is forced to go into hiding in secret bases all over the galaxy._

_Though hope is growing, the time is still bleak as ever. All the galaxy needs in such time is a hero to break the EMPIRE's tyranny….._

* * *

_/_

_The hissing voice of the weapon…_

_The veteran's cry of pain…_

_The crackling of the furious lightning…_

_The fell of the woman…_

_The figure in black…_

_The face of the duplicated hero….._

_The stabbing sound of the crimson weapon….._

_The dark visage of the master, the betrayer….._

_"I will always have the hold over you!"_

"NO!"

Starkiller awoke exasperatedly from his bed. His chest was inflating and deflating in furious tempo, and his breathing was irregularly fast. It took a minute and half for him to stabilize himself, and to catch his breath like a normal person.

"There is passion, and there is peace." Starkiller recited the passage to calm himself.

As he regained his, Starkiller realized he was drenched in sweat, with his shirt and the bed's sheet totally soaked.

"Damn it." Starkiller cursed with his right hand palming his face. "Not that dream again."

He looked around the small bed room where he was currently situated in, and groaned. Broken vase and other decorative items were scattered on the floor; even the small night table was thrown upside down at the corner of the room.

"Not again." Starkiller sighed defeated. His room was totally thrashed because of his unaware and uncontrolled utilization of the force due to his dreaming. Now, he was going to pay the price of his unrestrained power by cleaning his room…..again.

"Good morning, master." PROXY entered the room. The holodroid was now fully repaired from the damage that it sustained during the sudden attack aboard the _Salvation_. Thankfully, the droid no longer possessed the directive to kill the force master on every occasion. "My audio sensor perceived a screaming from you room. Are you alright, master?"

"I am quite alright, PROXY. It's just a bad dream." Starkiller answered. "Thank you for asking."

"I am pleased to hear that, master." PROXY said happily with its strange mechanical voice while crouching down to pick up the broken pieces of things scattered across the floor. "If I may suggest, master that you keep your dreams to minimum. General Kota is not pleased with your already towering repair bills."

"Oh for kriffin' sake, PROXY! It's the hundredth times already. I'll pay them with my own credits." The force master replied indignantly.

"Correction, master; it's just the ninety-eight time." The holodroid responded neutrally, earning a slight annoyed groan from its master. "Besides, we have insufficient credit to cover the entire repair cost."

"Talk like that one more time, PROXY and I'll have you disassembled." Starkiller jokingly threatened the droid.

"I would like to see that happened, master, after I reinstalled the directive to kill you wherever and whenever I can." The droid quipped.

"Errr, that's alright PROXY. I changed my mind."

"Thank you, master."

"Cheeky rust-bucket." Starkiller commented inwardly, as he rose from the bed and got out from the room.

* * *

6 months had passed after the major victory over Kamino. With the Alliance gaining a strategic foothold over the aquatic planet, The Empire became even more relentless in extinguishing the rebellion. More and more garrison of stormtroopers and imperial agents could be seen around the planets, and more and more star destroyer fleets were seen patrolling through the great void of the space. Unreasonable apprehension became a common thing throughout the planets under the tyrannical rule of the Emperor. Even so, the sparks of hope were not completely extinguished from the eyes of the oppressed. Instead, they were growing even fiercer than ever. The rebellion incited by the Alliance was gradually getting more and more support from the general populace all over the galaxy. The reason behind such thing was the rumor circulated among the populace of the galaxy about the capture of a certain powerful dark lord by the Alliance. Through the network of the rebel cells and Alliance-sponsored smugglers, the news of Vader's defeat and capture in Kamino was spreading like wildfire. While the Empire Propaganda had done its best to stem the circulation of the rumors through the appearance of the "Lord Vader" in several relatively benign planets and capturing dissidents that spread the news, the disappearance of the said dark lord of the Sith from major campaigns to quell the rebellion did not change the fact that there was truth behind the rumors. The Alliance's ranks were bolstering day by day, and morale was all time high.

So where was the said dark lord of the Sith himself? After his defeat, the one-armed, slightly burned Darth Vader was bounded and imprisoned in the Alliance's secret holding facility, located in the vast steppes of the planet Dantooine. Escorted by his defeater himself and confined in a specially made restraint that suppressed the power of the force, the powerless Darth Vader held no longer the power to instill fear. Right now, he was waiting, alone and bounded in his cold and dark cell, the hour of his judgment by the true republic for the crimes and atrocities he had committed in the name of the Emperor. It was definite that death sentence would befall upon the said dark lord of the Sith.

As for his defeater, the hero that made the turning point for the Alliance, things had got pretty complicated with the dual lightsabers wielding force master. Even though he had done the galaxy a big favor in almost single handedly destroying legions of the Empire forces in Kamino and apprehending the infamous Darth Vader in the process, Starkiller was not given any recognition for all things that he had done. In fact, his whole assistance during the battle of Kamino was completely wiped out. In the eyes of the galaxy, the one that was instrumental in bringing down the empire forces over Kamino and in defeating the dark lord of the Sith was general Rahm Kota, the blind but battle hardy veteran Jedi. All Starkiller received were simple praises from the blind Jedi, a sizable amount of credits and a nice little house in the middle of the desert of the Tatooine. Still, those were better than nothing. In fact, he was kind of relieved being left in obscurity. For the first time in his life, Starkiller tasted freedom, and it was sweeter than anything else.

It was true he was more than pissed off when his achievement on the battle of Kamino was effectively seized by the blind Jedi. Yet, somehow Starkiller felt that it deserved for him since he charged into the city with the thought of rescuing Juno rather than fighting for the Alliance against the Empire; Starkiller had no qualms on how many men and ships of the Alliance or Empire were lost during his obsession fuelled onslaught in Timira city, and he did not care if his rage filled assault had harmed more of his allies rather than the enemy. Even His victory against Vader himself was purely driven by his fury and thirst of vengeance. If not for Kota's intervention and the soft wordless voice of the force that prevented him to deal the final blow on the crippled dark lord of the Sith, Starkiller would probably be corrupted with the dark side of the Force for the rest of his life. It was fitting perhaps for Kota to be recognized as the hero of the battle of Kamino.

Another reason why Starkiller's achievements on Kamino were not publicly recognized was for the sake to keep his existence a secret. Beside Juno, PROXY, Kota and several trusted rebel officers and commandoes, no one in the Alliance, even the princess knew about Starkiller; to galaxy, he was a dead martyr, which was actually right in technical sense. The records on Starkiller's presence on Kamino and Cato Neimoidia were effectively expunged, leaving only fleeting rumors about a twin lightsabers wielding specter that hunted the Empire troopers and agents. Such measure was done to keep the balance of the Alliance's leadership. It was noted that after the death of Starkiller on the Death Star and the birth of the Alliance, the leadership of the galaxy coalition against the Empire had grown bigger as more and more factions allied themselves to the rebellion. More and more leaders were appointed to command armies and fleets, and govern planets that were under the Alliance; such responsibility definitely gave certain power and privileges that were too dear to be relinquished. The return of Starkiller, although would certainly spur the morale of the rebellion tremendously, would certainly destabilize the cohesion among the Alliance's leaders. The return of the symbolic leader of the rebellion would break up the Alliance at worst, and be used as a tool to further the leaders' personal political agendas. In the end, thanks to Kota's stepping in as the hero of Kamino, Starkiller was freed from the shackles of politics.

How about the rescued pilot turned fleet commander, Juno? Was the romance between her and the force master rekindled once again? Surprisingly, it was not. Even though Starkiller was insanely obsessed to find the woman of his dreams, he was not entirely thrilled about her after the battle was won. As if an unseen screen of illusion was suddenly pulled from his eyes, Starkiller could not bring himself to love the woman that had haunted his mind. In the matter of fact, the two acted like there was never a romantic relationship between them in the first place at all. It was true that they shared a kiss after the climax of the battle of Kamino was concluded, particularly when he found out that she had not been killed from Darth Vader's force push. Unfortunately such kiss was a simply the manifestation of emotion of relief and accomplishment running wild. The Juno that Starkiller had struggled and bled to find was already come to terms with the death of the real Starkiller. Juno herself had been exposed to the truth behind the man that she had glanced at for a slight moment in the bridge of the _Salvation_, and had silently witnessed on the platform ofTimira city as he rained thunders of fury against the dark lord of the Sith. During her time of captivity by the Emperor's apprentice, she was shown the very facility that manufactured the replicas of the man she once loved.

"_Your would-be savior is but merely a rouge tool of the empire." The dark lord said to the cuffed woman as they passed through the cold metallic corridors with hundreds of 'Starkillers' floating inside the giant bacta tanks on the walls. "He was thought to be the first great success. Pity. Now, with your help, he will be put down." _

During the transport of the captured dark lord, Juno confessed everything to Starkiller. To her surprise, the replica of the real force master did not destroy the _Rouge Shadow_ in shock and rage. Instead, he was showing the face of resignation after hearing the revelation. Such thing happened due to Starkiller's own realization and acceptance of the fact that he was no other than the clone of Galen Marek. It was no surprise that he himself was not even entirely certain to his previously mighty feelings toward the ex-empire pilot.

However, Kota was adamant that he himself was the Galen Marek, even if the blind veteran Jedi had seen for himself the dark fruits of the accelerated cloning process. He argued that Starkiller was somehow revived and befuddled to be the tool of the dark lord once again, while the clones that he had seen were simply Vader's failed experiment to create force sensitive, lightsabers wielding army. It was no secret that the dark lord himself was investing time and resources greatly to create such an army, be it by recruiting, training or outright cloning. Backed by Ni-Ke-Vanz's opinion on cloning a force sensitive, Rahm Kota dismissed the fact that Starkiller was a clone. The general restated the Cereanmedic's saying that cloning a force sensitive would definitely result in unstable clones that were prone to madness. He even brought the aberrant clones that he and the clone had fought as examples.

"_Do you think that you are the only special one, when millions of those ... 'Monstrosities' went mad seconds after being brought out from the tanks?!" Kota yelled as he smashed his fists upon the table during the conversation with Starkiller in Tatooine Cantina. "It was a ruse, boy, that Vader used upon you to control you like his puppet!"_

_Starkiller's thought after listening to Kota's furious rebuke was irony for the old man; Jedis were supposed to be above ignorance, as how their code compelled them to be. _

_Still, Starkiller could feel doubt in the old Jedi's mind. It seemed that the old general was not ignorant to the facts that he had witnessed for himself. Rather, it seemed that Kota chose not to be concerned with Starkiller's real identity. Whether or not Starkiller was Galen Marek, the boy's connection to the force was very powerful, and Kota intended to use such power to bring down the empire. _

Even though rained heavily with arguments that supported his identity as Galen Marek, and others' uncertain claim that he was a clone; Starkiller for certain knew that he is what he is: a clone, no less and no more. He came to such terms with his true identity as the unique clone of Galen Marek when he recalled and realized the meaning of his vision that he received inside Dagobah's tree of evil. Though he was not entirely unharmed from such realization, he felt light and free; as if a great burden was lifted from his shoulders after a long, long time. He felt that he finally lived as a person he wanted to be and not as a man he was made to be. He felt alive; he could sense, feel, and think as free as he could get. No longer was he be haunted by the visions of a dead man as he lived no longer as Galen Marek, but as a free clone and thus a new person.

Albeit he was a free man with a very powerful connection to the force, Starkiller was far from being idle. He still had obligation to fight the Empire wherever and whenever he could, although such obligation was not purely driven by his sense of justice and his immense hatred to the Empire. With his status as 'unknown', he protected the Alliance's interest from the shadows as a 'freelance security consultant'. Even if he fought stealthily and mostly destructively against the Empire strategic points, he never did them for the benefit of the Alliance. In fact, he utilized his power against the Empire for the sake of his friendship with Kota and Juno, and also for credits. The blind Jedi and the reinstated commander of the Alliance fleet was Starkiller's private and only clients, with them being the intermediaries for the Alliance to convey the targets for the force master to search and destroy. It was not a bad life for Starkiller, since the pay is good and he got to wreck the Emperor's lackeys into smithereens. Still, he was careful enough not to let himself be drawn into greed and bloodlust, which in turn would bring him closer to the dark side.

* * *

"Lucas!" A kindly elderly man called the force master from the distance, as he stepped out from his dome-like house to get the fleeting breeze of the sunrise. "Would you help me fixing the sand speeder today?"

"Sure, Owen." Starkiller shouted the reply with amusement in his voice. He was freshly bathed, and clothed in a simple blue sleeveless shirt and black trousers. "I'll look on your faulty air-filterer as well. You know how Luke tends to break stuffs rather than fix them!"

"Hey, it's my nephew you are talking about!"

"I'm sorry old man, but you know that's true!"

"Whatever, you cheeky brat. Come here when you are ready!"

"Sure thing, old man!" Starkiller said as he returned back to his seemingly humble abode with quite luxurious interior. His neighbors, the kind Beru and Owen Lars, were his only friends in the middle of the vast desert of Tatooine. To them, the force master was known as "Lucas Starblazer", an eccentric but rich tech savant from the bustling city of Corruscant. His wealth which he claimed to be derived from the inheritance of a millionaire of an uncle, had given 'Lucas' free reign to travel to the farthest of the outer rim. Yet after his adventures and misadventures throughout the galaxy, he finally wished to settle down in the desert planet itself as a very rich hermit. The couple was confused since he chose a most unlikely planet to settle down as a hermit; yet, 'Lucas' told them it was suitable for him since his rough upbringing.

"PROXY." The force master called out for his mechanical companion while foraging the fridge. "I am going out to the Lars' for a while. "Keep the fort for me." Starkiller's mouth was packed with several fruits.

"Very well, master." The holodroid replied. "I will hold the any call to your astro-cell like usual."

"Thanks, PROXY." Starkiller said before he left the premises.

* * *

Even though his line of the work was simultaneously dangerous and thrilling, the requests were not frequently available, thus giving Starkiller the liberty of time. To bring himself constantly out of boredom, Starkiller mostly meditated and trained his lightsaber combat with his Holodroid in the training ground located under his house. The prior was done with greater concern, since it was his way to balance both light and dark sides of the force. His socialization with his neighnbors also helped him to fill his spare time, especially with his neighbors' beloved nephew, the young Luke Skywalker.

When he first met the young boy that the Larses raised like their own child, Starkiller had felt that the boy's connection to the force was very strong and almost identical with the power of his previous cruel master. He suspected that the boy was somehow connected to the dark lord; but keeping the thought that even the fallen can be redeemed, with the exception of the Emperor's right hand, Starkiller decided to teach the boy in the way of the force. With the boy spirited and easy going nature, It did not take long for Starkiller to befriend the boy and become his master.

Still, the boy's guardians had negative view toward the force user, as how they described such sentiment to 'Lucas Starblazer' during a welcoming dinner to their lonely neighborhood. Because of that, he had to secretly teach the boy the arts of lightsaber combat and the use of the force.

"Lucas!" The young boy in simple moisture farmer garb called in a very glad tone. "You come here to fix the air filterer again?"

"Yeah, someone have to fix the mess that you had made, Luke." The force master in disguise replied smugly as he entered the moisture farmers' home.

"Hey, it's not my fault if Uncle Owen had to be tight on the budget for the spare parts."

"Heh, it's probably that you have no delicacy with the machines like I do, chump." Starkiller mocked lightly as he walked to the broken machinery. "All it needs is a little touch, and…..voila! It works!" The force master continued after tinkering slightly to the broken air filterer.

"Humph, whatever you, you eccentric bastard."

"Still much to learn, my apprentice."

Both man laughed heartedly. As the morning passed into day, both man relaxed on the bench outside of the house after cleaning and fixing the farmers' broken farming apparatuses and sand speeder.

"So, we are going to travel to the red mountain again today?"

"Well, do you want to?" Starkiller questioned the boy back.

"Of course, I want to." Luke answered readily. "You have seen for yourselves how far I have improved."

"Well, you have improved indeed." The force master smirked. "But still not enough to beat me."

"Whatever, I'll beat you someday." The boy answered with a slight irritation, earning the older man's laugh. "So, are we going or not?"

"Let's, my apprentice."

Both man rose from the bench and headed to the garage.

* * *

It's been a few months since Starkiller offered his service to be the teacher in the way of the force for the young Luke Skywalker, and he was more than impressed to know that the skill of the young force adept was improving day by day. Almost every day, when Starkiller was not fulfilling some of his certain 'requests', the boy would train diligently under the supervision of the force master with Starkiller's spare lightsaber. Under the pretense of cruise the red mountains that was not very far from their neighborhood, both men would travel into the secluded valley of the mountainous area to train. In matter of weeks, young Luke Skywalker became mightily proficient in lightsaber combat styles. Adopting the reverse grip Shien form as his own forte, Luke Skywalker became an unparalleled lightsaber wielding warrior, second only to Starkiller himself. One time, both men were travelling too far into the territory of the Tuskens, and thus getting themselves surrounded by the sand raiders in matter of minutes. Utilizing the green crystal lightsaber, Luke Skywalker, with the help of dual-wielding Starkiller, was more than a match to the hostile nomads. In the end, Starkiller was proud and confident enough to claim that the young Skywalker was more than capable to defend himself.

However talented was the young Skywalker, Starkiller still had reservation about the boy's ability in utilizing the force. Luke Skywalker had mastered the essence of the aggressiveness of the force such as the push, pull and throw; He was still far away from mastering the art of small and tutaminis. Still, the boy's absorption to Starkiller's teaching was as fast as how the desert swallowed the water, and he had a knack to improve his ability further. During the duo's previous bumping into the sand folks' raiding party, young Luke Skywalker exhibited an unrefined technique of the dark side: a lightning-reinforced punch. The punch sent an unfortunate sand raider out for good, and put fear to the rest. From that moment, Starkiller became aware that his young apprentice was walking too near to the precipice of the dark side. Even though the dark side of the force fuelled one's aggressiveness and bloodlust greater than anything else, it corrupted oneself almost absolutely; making one's self completely lost into a creature that thirst for power. Starkiller promised himself to make sure that the young Luke Skywalker would never completely corrupted to the dark side of the force; He would made sure that the boy would balance and master both aspect of the force.

* * *

A downward slash of a green lightsaber swoop fast toward Starkiller's head. Thanks to his force-enhanced reflex and sense, the force master managed to evade the attack by sidestepping from the slash, and countered it with another slash of his own lightsabers to push the aggressor away.

"Careful, 'master'." The young Skywalker jeered with playful tone while evading and deflecting Starkiller's slashes. "I do not want to graduate from your 'apprenticeship' just yet."

"Heh, apparently you mastered that cocky attitude of mine as well." Starkiller returned the teasing with the same manner. "Funny, I do not remember teaching you that." Both men gracefully attacked, deflected and countered each other's strikes in practice duel. Wielding their respective lightsabers, the master and the pupil danced a fatal war dance- while suppressing their own urge to fatally wound the others. Blows after blows were exchanged; each steps, swings, and leaps was done with precision and refinement. As the time passed on, the two continued to exhibit their mastery on various forms of lightsaber combat; from the basic of Shii-Cho, to the ferocity of Vaapad.

"Very nice use of Vaapad, Luke." Starkiller commended his apprentice while blocking a vicious downward diagonal slash with his twin black-colored lightsabers. "Still, you are leaning too close to the teaching of the Sith. Remember! There is passion…"

"And, there is peace." Luke finished his master's words while evading his master's fierce flurry of slashes. The two continued to exhibit their mastery on various forms of lightsaber combat; from the basic of Shii-Cho, to the ferocity of Vaapad.

The duel continued with no one showing the intention to relent while signs of fatigue were showing in both men's faces. Decided to end the practice duel, Starkiller employed a feint: in series of slashes and thrusts, the force master only employed one lightsaber in combat while keeping the other in reserve. In matter of seconds, Luke took the bait as he caught his master's ever decreasing aggressiveness; he quickly dominated the duel with his offensive strikes, forcing his master to adopt more defensive stances. As Luke delivered the blow that drove his master's lightsaber away, Starkiller launched his riposte; He deftly redirected the aggressive blow with his combating lightsaber, and thrusted his reserve lightsaber to Luke's neck. The Luke's head would probably be severed if Starkiller did not stop his black-colored lightsaber from grazing boy's neck.

Luke, taken aback by his master's unforeseen riposte, was dead silent and frozen stiff; his master's unmoved lightsaber was intimidatingly threatening his now-sweating neck. Still wielding his green-colored lightsaber, Luke could only gaze boldly and unflinchingly to Starkiller's eyes; unfortunately, his master responded with the same manner, only with his eerily cold and neutral expression.

"You have improved, Luke." Stakiller praised, breaking the silence between the two combatants. He lowered his lightsabers and eased his stance, making his young apprentice to mimic his actions. "Still, you need to keep your head leveled during the heat of the battle." The force master continued his counsel as he deactivated his weapons.

"Hhhh, I'll never be able to surpass you." Luke sighed as he also deactivated his own lightsaber. He was still catching his breath as the feeling of fatigue crept into his body. "Your skills are too complex." The boy lamented his loss while he slumped to the ground.

"Luke, my skills being more complex than yours have nothing to do with my winning." Starkiller consoled the sulking youth, as he sat beside the boy and placed his hand on his shoulder. He was sweating, but his breathing was much more stable than the youngster. "Do you know how I win our little practice duel?"

"By using a feint?"

"Close, but still not the right answer to my question." Starkiller said, earning a confused look on his apprentice's face. "The reason that I won was that I kept in my mind the thought to win."

"So, what's the big deal? I did the same thing."

"And what thought you specifically kept in your mind to win against me?"

"Well, to defeat you, of course." Luke confessed.

"You see, Luke. To 'win' and to 'defeat' are two different things, albeit they are somewhat similar." Starkiller explained. "With your thought solely focused on 'defeating' me, you fell into the ruse that let me 'win' against you."

"So, you are saying that 'defeating' is not necessarily 'winning', while 'winning' is surely 'defeating'."

"Very perceptive, my apprentice."Starkiller patted the youth's back. "It seems you are developing a philosophical sense rather nicely."

"I have a great teacher." Luke said, earning the rustling of his hair from Starkiller.

"Come on." Starkiller rose from the ground, dusting the dirt from his clothes. "You still need to learn how to properly use the force."

Groaning a little, Luke stood up.

* * *

"That's it, Luke. Do not let emotion overwhelm you, but redirect it instead."Starkiller shouted as he held off the crimson lightning with transparent screen of energy that he generated from his hand. "That's it; keep the flow of the energy even."

"Hngggghhhhh." Luke Skywalker gritted his teeth as he discharged red lightning from his fingers. He was struggling to maintain the flow of energy into the crimson spark out from his hand. Such difficulty was due to the violent nature of such force ability tended to corrupt its user; it required great focus to balance the rage that fuelled the spark and the serenity that held the corruption at bay. Strakiller, knowing that Luke had the unbridled gift of the force and that someday the boy would inevitably learn the knowledge of force lightning, decided to teach the youth of such art. Keeping the thought of protecting Luke from corruption, Starkiller emphasized the importance of control and focus in teaching the use of such violent force ability to Luke. Due to Starkiller's experience and expertise of such dangerous skill, Luke managed to create his unique force lightning from his hands, although not without some troubles.

"Very good, Luke."Starkiller yelled to match his voice with the crackling of the lightning. "Now, I will push the lightning toward you. You will push it back with a controlled power. Yell if you wish to stop."

"Okay!" Luke shouted in response. "But, I have no intention to give up as easily as before!"

"Good, now focus!"

The force version of push of war began between two men. Starkiller discharged powerful purple colored force lightning from his hand and drove Luke's crimson ones back gradually. Purple and red lightning clashed against one another, sending smaller sparks flying in stray direction. The focal point of the two force lightning was moving left and right, showing the exertion of willpower by both force users to withstand one another's might.

"Tired?" Starkiller called.

"Very." Luke responded.

"Giving up?"

"Heck No! I can do this all day long!"

"Good. I will raise the intensity of my lightning now." Starkiller said with the intention to punish his apprentice's arrogance. "Keep up with me!"He continued, making Luke to groan in annoyance.

The glow of each lightning began to intensify, signaling that the danger level of the practice had risen significantly. The arms of both men began to tremble, as power began to pour out unbridled from their hands.

"Ggggaahhh!" Luke shouted as he did the unpredictable- Stepping forward. While keeping the lightning out from his hands, Luke took a step forward, intending to push his master backward.

Starkiller couldn't help but to be impressed by his pupil's bravado. The audacity of such action did show some result for Starkiller himself was force to step backward- even only for a step. He could see a small grin on his apprentice's tired face.

"He does have the spirit." Starkiller thought with a small smile on his face as well. "Still, two can play this game." However talented was the young Skywalker, Starkiller wasn't going to let an upstart like his pupil to be full of himself. Steadying his arms, Starkiller followed the young Skywalker's example. The lightning did not relent even though the distance between the master and the pupil was getting shorter by minutes.

"Ghh…I'll….admit….that you're….pretty good….for an old man." Luke mocked in difficulty, struggling to keep his position steady under the constant barrage of force lightning.

"Kh…Keep..talking, brat….and I'll hand…..you…your sorry butt….like always." Starkiller returned the mockery with his own. Sweats had rolled like waterfalls from both men's faces. The limit of their discipline and power was raised higher and higher, until the distance between the two was dangerously close. The clashed sparking of the two lightning was the only thing that separated them. The air between them was thick with murderous intention.

"There…is…passion." Luke began to chant the mantra taught by Starkiller. "And there…is…peace."

"There…is strength." Starkiller continued; he felt the calming sensation of the mantra as the dark side of the force began to recede from the air. "And there…..is….serenity."

"There…is…power, and there is….knowledge."

"There…is...victory, and there is…harmony."

"There…is…freedom, and there is…unity." Determination was clear in both men's eyes, although it was not the determination of domination and bloodlust. It was the determination of resolve and trust.

Both men unisonly launched their hands to meet one another, disregarding the dangerous spark between them.

"FOR….I…..AM….THE…FORCE!" Both men yelled as they clasped their hands together, snuffing the life out from the lightning that they had discharged. The sparking focal point shone its final glint defiantly before being put out by the palms of the force users.

Both men fell to their knees as they unclasped their hands from one another; white steam was rising and blue electric sparks were jumping from their bodies.

"You…are….one…tough…bastard." Starkiller said labouringly. He felt the painful heat all across his body; his skin would probably be melted off if not for his fortitude. The same went to Luke Skywalker; His wheezing signified that he was suffering the same pain that Starkiller currently felt.

"You…are….not bad…yourselves,…old man." The boy replied wittily. The men laughed heartedly, easing the soreness and weariness of their body.

"Come." Starkiller stood up and offered his hand to Luke. "Your guardians must be worried sick."

"I never realized its getting dark." Luke said as he took his hand and rose to his feet. "Stars! I feel I could eat a whole Bantha!" He exclaimed, feeling the grip of hunger constricting his stomach.

"I feel the same thing, too." Starkiller smirked. "C'mon, I can already smell dinner from here."

Both men strode to the direction of the parked sand speeder, when suddenly…...

"Argghhh!"

Starkiller fell unto his knees; a sharp pain suddenly pierced his brain. He felt like an invisible knife was splitting his head open.

"Lucas, what's wron.." Luke's words were unheard anymore as Strakiller's mind was forcefully pulled into a violent vision.

_The hissing voice of the weapon…_

_The veteran's cry of pain…_

_The crackling of the furious lightning… _

_The fell of the woman…_

_The figure in black…_

_The face of the duplicated hero….._

_The stabbing sound of the crimson weapon….._

_The dark visage of the master, the betrayer….._

"_I will always have the hold over you!"_

"NO!" Starkiller screamed while he unleashed a powerful force repulse, pushing Luke violently to unconsciousness. His vision turned black and nothingness claimed him into dark sleep.

* * *

"_Return to the source." A mysterious voice echoed from the dark mist._

"_Huh?"_

"_Return to source of evil." The disembodied voice repeated. "where an ancient master watches over it steadfastly."_

"_Wait! Who are you?"_

"_All will be revealed." The ominous voice continued, slightly fading away. "at the source of evil."_

"_Wait-_

_Silence claimed the voice into the mist filled darkness, leaving only eerie blackness behind._

* * *

"Ughhh." Starkiller groaned. His return to consciousness was not welcomed with pleasantries and comfort; his head felt heavy as lead and his body felt like had been ran through by a score of dune banthas.

"Ghhh, Luke?" Starkiller called while supporting his head with one of his hand. "LUKE?!"

Silence lingered for a while, until a groan for a reply was heard.

"Ugghhh, my head."

"Luke?! Are you okay?" Starkiller approached his pupil.

"I think I got a nasty bump." Luke rose to sitting position with his hand rubbing the back of his head. "Besides that, I am quite alright."

Starkiller puffed a sigh of relief. He really did not want to return the young Skywalker to the Lars in body bag.

"What was that for?" Luke queried, still rubbing his head.

"I…I am not sure, Luke." Starkiller answered. "I think I had a vision."

"A vision? What vision"

"A vision I am going to find out." Starkiller said with seriousness dawned on his face.

* * *

Few hours later, aboard the _Rouge Shadow._

"So you are saying that this haunting dream-turned-vision told you to Dagobah." Rahm Kota said from his seat; the sketchy voice of the armored blind general did not hide his irritation toward the younger man.

"I've been telling you, Kota." Starkiller said with no less irritation in his tone. The warrior in gray robe was sitting across the old Jedi. "I just feel it, not know it."

"Boy, do you realize we are still at war?" Kota growled. "Do you let your little victory over Vader to go over your head?"

"Now, list-"

"NO, Now you listen to me, boy." Venom was thick in the old general's voice. "Our little victory over Kamino has caused many of our fleet being destroyed by Empire's navy. Hundreds of our bases are now ruins, and thousands of our men are either executed or hunted down by the Imperial agents. While our Alliance- your Alliance bleeds to dead, you are now off chasing some vague vision?"

"You are the one that tell me to always follow my own instincts!" Starkiller argued angrily. "That dreams and visions that I had are rarely mistaken!"

"Not now, boy!" Kota rebuked, as he rose from his seat. "Just not now. I never say that what you see in you visions and dreams are wrong- But, it is our men out there that lay dying. WE need you for the war, Starkiller. You are the only one with the power that rivals the emperor himself."

"I am not your weapon, Kota!"

"No, you are not." Kota replied impertinently while he moved toward Starkiller and jabbed a finger onto his chest. "You are just some stupid boy, bent on chasing force damned dreams!"

"PROXY, lost the signal!" Starkiller fumingly ordered. Rahm Kota's whole body appearance flashed bright, and in seconds turned into the skeletal form of the holodroid.

"Master.."

"Not now, PROXY." Starkiller scolded as he spun his chair toward the spaceship controls. He sighed exhaustedly as he pinched the bridged of his nose to defuse his raging mind. PROXY then took the pilot seat on the flight deck beside his master.

"PROXY…"

"Yes master?"

"Set the destination to Dagobah."

"Right away, master."

"And, PROXY?"

"What is it, master?"

"I'm sorry."

"No problem, master." PROXY responded with delight in his mechanical voice. The holodroid tapped several buttons on the control panel of the starship. As the droid pushed center stick, the _Rouge Shadow_ made a jump into the hyperspace.

* * *

Dagobah.

It was still the same when Starkiller visited for the first time.

_Dark, Muggy, Foul-smelling, critters-filled swamp world._

_Yeah, just like the way it used to be._

Starkiller, clothed in a black and brown suit under the white hooded sleeveless coat, walked down the ramp from his starship. Accompanied by his trusted holodroid, the force master in Jedi Adventurer costume, ventured to the place that held the promised answer to his dreams and visions.

The hooting of the indigenous avian creature of Dagobah echoed through the mist filled swamp, enhancing the surreal dimension of the swamp world. The taint of the dark side of the force could be felt from its thick, reeking air.

"Master." PROXY said, while both man and machine trekked deeper into the dark jungle. "My sensor detects a heat source not far from our destination. Someone is waiting us."

"Do not worry, PROXY."Starkiller assured the holodroid with slight amusement in his tone. "That is probably the guardian of the place."

"Is it dangerous, master?"

"He, PROXY. Not it, but He" Starkiller explained, emphasizing the gender of the guardian. "I do not know for sure, but I sense great power within him-power that rivals mine."

"He must be very impressive figure, master."

"Well, I'll let you see him first then."

The duo finally arrived on a clearing. On the edge of the clearing, not far from Starkiller and PROXY, was a mouth of a dark cave. Located under the shriveled stems of a gigantic ancient tree, the roots-ridden cave emanated an ominous aura that Starkiller was familiar with: the dark side.

"Return here once again, you have." A voice croaked nearby. Both man and machine turned their sight to the source of the voice. "With a companion, you are, I see."

PROXY did not saw anything that resembled an impressive figure in his sight receiver. Instead, what he could see was a green sad-looking little creature, sitting on the small rock near the mouth of the cave. The creature itself had a long batwing-like ears; its balding head was sporting few strands of messy white hair. The creature wore an old traditional garb of a Jedi, and in its three-fingered hand was a small walking stick. The wrinkles on its face and its head signified the weight of age and hardship that the creature had borne.

"Master." PROXY said, his disbelief betrayed his usually neutral mechanical tone. "Is that the guardian?"

"Hey, master, how have you been?" Starkiller cordially spoke while he took down his hood, disregarding the holodroid's inquiry.

The creature let out a strange raspy laugh. "Master? A very long time, that title, I have not been called."

Starkiller chuckled a little, following the raspy giggle of the green creature.

"Dress like a Jedi, you are. Yet Jedi, you are not." The small creature said while pointing his stick to Starkiller. "Answers, looking for, you are."

"Do you know what answer that I am looking for?"

"Hhrrmm, difficult questions, you have." The little guardian answered while shaking his head. "Inside the cave, find anwers, you will. But go alone, you must."

"Thank you, master." Starkiller respectfully bowed his head before he turned to PROXY.

"I need you to stay here, PROXY." Starkiller instructed the holodroid. "Wait here until I return."

"I would suggest the opposite, master" PROXY protested in neutral tone.

"What? You want to go inside and I stay here instead?" Starkiller joked, earning another raspy laugh from the little green creature.

"W-what? No, I mean I should accompany you to the cave."

"Relax, PROXY. I am just joking with you." Starkiller said to his friend. "Still, I need you to stay here. This is something that I must do myself."

"Very well, master." The holodroid replied with defeated tone, as he saw his master walked into the dark shadows of the cave.

* * *

Starkiller really hated this place. It was dark, with deep roots swarming its walls and dangling from its ceiling, and constantly emitting ominous air that made his Goosebumps rose. Still, Starkiller was not the type that would just run away when danger arose. He had faced rancor-eating giant, force-wielding and lightsaber-swinging abominations, and hard-breathing dark lord; he would not let some creepy echoes of the wind and dark glooms overcame him.

"Well, at least there is no copy of me coming from the walls." Starkiller said to himself. When he entered the cave for the first time, he encountered numerous copies of himself, bound to the wall like the shriveled roots of the cave's theme.

"_Help…me….." were the only things that the copies spoke, over and over again, until they all froze dead._

As he passed the curtains of dead roots and tendrils, Starkiller noticed that he still wore the Jedi adventurer garments. He wondered if it was the sign of his acceptance to his true identity. Even so, he did not let his guard down for a second; his hands were ready to pull his lightsabers on his belt at any time. The hollow cavern kept on releasing atmosphere of danger unrelentingly, making Starkiller to be always in the state of uneasiness. Something was tugging inside his head, screaming that danger was imminent.

"This feeling…..this power…felt like Vader's." Starkiller thought while instinctively pulled his lightsabers with the power of the force to his hands.

The force master finally reached the wide hollow interior of the cave, the place where he first saw the vision of future. However, this time, it was not answer that was waiting for him.

Kneeling in the center of large shadowy room of the cave was a figure clad in black robe. Estimating the person's body built, He could safely assume that the mysterious person, even though clothed in seemingly heavy robes, was a male. The person's head was covered in black hood, and his arms in smooth glistening black gauntlets. Black circular protective plate was running around his neck and his upper chest. A small mechanical panel was fixed in the chest of the mysterious figure's chest. Under the shadow of the hood, a pair of hungry eyes with orange-colored irises suddenly appeared and gazed balefully to the approaching force master. Starkiller, taken aback by the hostile gaze, quickly realized who the waiting person was, and the mysterious one was clearly not his friend.

"Sith!" Starkiller hissed as he activated his twin black coloured lightsabers, and entered his battle ready stance. His enemy quickly jumped to his feet backward and turned on his twin lightsabers; their colors were equally red, appropriate insignia of the practitioners of the dark side of the force. Starkiller was shocked, not because of the weapons that enemy wielded, but by the combat-ready form that the enemy was utilizing- Starkiller's unique reverse-handling Jarkai.

"Come at me." The Sith's dark voice resonated the dimly-lighted space of the cavern. "Jedi!" the enemy continued with added venom in his voice.

Starkiller sped to the enemy, and the mortal fight ensued.

* * *

The duel between the two force users was unlike the previous practice duel between Starkiller and Luke Skywalker; the battle between the two was deadly, with both duelists strive to end the life of the other. With every steps and turns, using every techniques and moves to either maim or disarm, Starkiller and the unknown Sith battle with evenly strength and abilities. The battle posture that the Sith was using was the very carbon copy of Starkiller's unique set of moves; every swing, every leaps and every blocks were the exact matches of the force master's. It was as if Starkiller was fighting his very mirror image.

"It can't be." Starkiller gritted his teeth, while he deflected the incoming slash. "It can't possibly be!"

"Pitiful." The Sith coldly replied as he redirected his attack with both ferocity and grace. "Your code demands knowledge, yet you cling to ignorance." The dark warrior continued to mock while he performed a somersault to avoid a spinning horizontal slash.

"I am no Jedi!" Starkiller unleashed a lightning barrage from his right palm, only to be resisted by one of the Sith's lightsabers.

"Of course, you are not." The Sith laughed under the shadows of his hood. Flying sparks illuminated the dark room. "You are too weak to be either a Jedi or a sith. You are but nothing but a pathetic worm."

"Rarrrrrrhhhhh!" Fury entered into Starkiller's mind, and as rage overwhelmed him, he spun speedily and launched a ball of transparent bluish energy toward the Sith. The hooded Sith easily slapped the force ball away backhandedly with one of his free hand, not knowing that his enemy already closed in to his position. With lightsabers on his hands, Starkiller force dashed to the enemy, catching him by surprise. The enemy quickly spun his lightsabers into blocking position, but it was too late; Starkiller's black-colored energy swords slashed in crossing movement, and the fizzling sound of the sabers slicing into flesh followed.

Starkiller was kneeling position with his lightsabers-grasping hands spread wide to back like wings of a falcon. He was panting laboriously, struggling to push back the grip of the dark side within him. A thud was heard, as the hooded Sith fell to the ground. His body lay limply on the dark floor of the cavern. The enemy was slain, but Starkiller felt no victory. Instead, he felt disdainful toward himself for taking the enemy's bait; he knew that it was the Sith's guile that entice him to rage. Although it gave him strength that enabled him to destroy the enemy, Starkiller felt that he was played into the Sith's design.

"Damn it." Starkiller shamefully cursed. He stood upright and switched off his weapons, with regret still hung on his head. "I should have never been tricked into rage."

"Why?" the cold voice of the Sith rang. "It gave you the power to defeat me, is it not?"

The voice startled Starkiller. He hastily spun around to face the vanquished enemy, with his lightsabers reactivated. To his surprise and horror, the dead Sith was already standing facing him; his posture was calmly intimidating. Starkiller pointed his lightsabers to the Sith, ready to kill the dark side user one more time.

"You can't kill me, Jedi." The Sith chuckled. "Not at such pathetic state, or….at here."

"What do you mean?" Starkiller yelled.

"Fool." The Sith continued to mock as he moved forward and thrusted his hand to one of Starkiller's lightsabers, surprising Starkiller. The Sith's hand passed through the energy blade without cutting the flesh. "Can't you see? I am not even here."

"Who are you?" Starkiller scowled at the hooded enemy, his lightsabers were unmoved even though the enemy was unreal.

"Why don't you find out for yourselves?" The Sith moved backward, and pulled his fallen lightsabers with the force. "in where it all started."

"…"

"But, it is not answer you will find, only death."

"What do you mean? TELL ME!"

"Find me, Jedi, in where it all started." The Sith sneered while walking backwards to the shadow of the cave. "Seek out for my power; I'll make it clear for you to find me. But you will never kill me. You are far too weak and too spineless to grasp the power unlimited!"

"I am not a Jedi! And I am not WEAK!" I will end you when I find you!"

"We shall see, vermin, even though it will be your death, not mine." The Sith laughed until the voice faded into the darkness.

* * *

"Master!" PROXY greeted, as Starkiller came out from the mouth of the cave. "Did you find what you are looking for inside?"

"…" Starkiller replied with silence over his haggard face.

"Master? What's wrong."

"No answer, found you, inside." The green guardian croaked, earning Starkiller's astonishment.

"How do you know?"

"Hrrrmmm, lived with the force, I have. Like a book, your mind, I can read." He continued. "In pieces, your mind is. A dangerous path, follow you must."

"Why?" Starkiller knelt, lowering his position to the guardian's level.

"Only then, peace, your mind will find."

"Thank you, master." Starkiller rose to his feet. "Do you have anything else for me?"

"Only one." Seriousness was the tone of the ancient watcher. "Always follow the force, you must."

"I will."

* * *

Meanwhile, on Dantooine.

In the vast plains of the green planet itself, was a secret holding facilty that belonged to the Alliance. Within it, was the infamous dark lord of the Sith himself, Darth Vader. Strapped to a thick metallic force-resistant board in a dark circular cell, the restrained Darth Vader was waiting alone for the hour of his execution. Although the harness that restrained him restricted his movement as well as his using of the force, the Sith lord was still able to know everything that was happening outside of his holding cell through the focusing of the force to his mind. He knew that the most leaders of the alliance had opted to execute him outright without giving him the leisure of a trial. He knew that the reason of such thing was due to their great fear of him- _Good_, It gave him power, and power was what he needed to be free from the pathetic prison that he was currently held. Although the dark lord was disgusted to the wretched worms that the Alliance had as leaders, he was still amused with the words and action of one of the leaders. That leader was a girl, dressed in white with her hair tied in two short swirling buns on the left and right. Although her age showed that she was probably not older than seventeen to eighteen years old, she radiated the boldness and the wisdom that was beyond her age.

"_Princess, please be reasonable. We can't let that monster live after what he had done!"_

"_No! Killing him now will show the entire galaxy that we are nothing but common terrorists. We shall not be so! Vader will stand trial to show the Galaxy that we are not like the Empire, that we are just and benevolent!"_

"_Princess Organa, please. You can't possibly be seri-"_

"_No! I will not stand this! Vader will not be executed without a fair trial, and that's final!"_

Darth Vader was chuckling mutely under his dark helmet. Something within the girl resembled the women from his previous life, when the time was pleasurable and warm. Something about her resembled strongly to the image of-

"No! She is not her!" The metallic restraint rumbled slightly. The huffing voice of the dark lord's breathing apparatus quickened. "She was already dead."

His mind quickly sank into meditative state; he calmed himself down, and soon his breathing turn to normal. The dark lord felt disgusted-toward himself. He should never let dead memories resurfaced- It was a weakness and Sith never tolerates weakness.

As he recomposed himself in meditative mind, He caught a glimpse of the future, and felt a chilly sensation in his prosthetic spine.

"Your time is at end, my apprentice." Darth Vader said in his mind, as he remembered the foreboding storm that was to come.

"Kamino?" The blind veteran asked. "What do you mean 'something was still on Kamino', boy? We have destroyed every major cloning facility on that planet."

"Vader still has a secret in there, General. A cloning facility maybe." Starkiller responded, earning the General's scoffing. "I know it, I can feel it!"

"But it's not possible, boy. You were there when we destroy those facilities, even the ones that the Emperor knows not."

"I saw it in Dagobah, Kota. He is waiting for me in Kamino."

"Who is 'he'?" Kota asked.

"A Sith, a powerful Sith that much stronger and crueler than Vader." Starkiller answered. "He-"

"He what, boy?"

"H-he said that he is waiting for me in Kamino." Starkiller stammered with his head lowered.

"You have fought him, haven't you?" The blind Jedi sighed while he sank deeper to his voice. "You are trying to say that this Sith is probably stronger than you, aren't you?"

Starkiller raised his head and look into the general's white eyes with amazement.

"I have told you. I am still connected with the force." Kota continued as he sat straighter. "This….Sith that you saw in your vision will certainly prove to be a danger to the Alliance. We certainly can't sit idly while the danger is crouching to our very doors. But, what you ask, Starkiller, is too much."

"What? Why?"

"To ask for an attack armada to Kamino requires the consent of the Alliance leaders, and those leaders can't be convinced with simply visions, Starkiller." Kota said with a sober tone. "I can convince several of them, but they still won't support this plan. This is a weak case, boy."

"Then lend me some of your men, Kota." Starkiller replied. He was incensed that his foresight was called as a weak case. Unfortunately, it was true; to most of the non-force sensitive, the gifts of the force were looked upon with scorn. And like it or not, Kota's words did have its weights. The leaders would need much more solid evidence than his force foresight to permit a fleet to attack Kamino again.

"And what would I report to those leaders, boy? That my men suddenly went on a picnic to the stormy and rainy planet?" Rahm Kota impatiently rebuked. "Do you think they will all turn blind on what are going to happen in Kamino?"

"So what do you suggest, Kota?" Starkiller wearily asked.

"Just…stay calm for a moment." The general spoke with both of his hands raised in a gesture to pacify the younger man. "Let me think of something."

Several minutes passed with the general pondering on something and rubbing his brushy chin. Suddenly,….

"Tell you what, I want you to wait for me above Korasa, one of Kamino's moons." The general said with a bright face.

"Yes, I know where that is." Starkiller replied snappily. "What are you planning to do?"

The general could only sigh at the youngster's impertinence. "Just do what I say. Trust me on this, I will get you an army." The general concluded, as his entire body phased out, leaving only the holodroid on the seat.

* * *

Few days later, above the white moon, an invisible spaceship wandered slowly around its orbit. Its stealth system started to flicker all around its body.

"PROXY." Starkiller called his navigator. "How long have the stealth generator been activated?"

"Aproximately two hours, master."

"One more hour, then we will shut it down." Starkiller said while he pointed to the moon's ring of icy chunks. "We will use Korasa's debris ring to cover our being."

"Very well, master." The ship left its prior spot to its new hiding place.

It's been few hours since the Rouge Shadow jumped out from the Hyperspace. As had been planned before, Starkiller was now waiting for the arrival of Rahm Kota. He suspected that Kota was planning to deceive the Alliance leaders in sending a fleet in the second invasion to Kamino, though it was very unlikely. Still, the old general was one of his truest friends; if he said that he could bring an army, than an army would come.

"PROXY, I'll be in the meditation chamber." Starkiller rose from the pilot's seat, having decided a way to pass the time. "Notify me on any transmissions. Until then, keep the ship under the sensors."

"Very well, master." The holodroid replied as he took the pilot's seat.

* * *

Starkiller entered the dimly-lighted circular room. The meditation chamber had enough space to perform as a training ground for him. Even though the _Rouge Shadow_ was the possession of Galen Marek and not his, Starkiller felt a nostalgic feeling when he entered the compartment. He could see which corner that PROXY used to ambush him in the past; he could even see where he floated in the air during one of his meditation moment. He remembered the memories that did not belong to him, yet Starkiller did not feel one bit to be bothered by them. With the exception of his recurring nightmares and vision, Starkiller was no longer suffering the painful headache that accompanied the past visions and memories of Galen Marek. Memories still flooded into his mind wherever and whenever he encountered things that triggered such memories, but somewhat they felt natural and not forced. Starkiller wondered if it had any relation to his acceptance to his true self.

Keeping the thought in his mind, Starkiller moved to the center of the room and sat on the cold metallic floor with crossed legs. As he closed his eyes, his mind went closer to the force. With disciplined concentration, Starkiller utilized the force to peer deep into the rainy planet's surface and search for the disturbance of the force there. Although seemingly meaningless, the force technique to look for any disturbances on a planet had helped Starkiller in many occasions, especially when the intels on the oppositions were severely lacking. Thanks to such technique, Starkiller was able to discover the enemies' position and assess the danger before rushing to the battle. The catch for such technique though, was the amount of patience, willpower and concentration to pull and maintain such skill; not to mention the size of the planet itself and the distance between the force user and the target planet were also affected the success rate of such skill.

Remembering what the Sith had said during the conclusion of their encounter in the cave of evil, Starkiller focused hard to find the location of the enemy. Considering the planet's natural weather and the distance between Kamino and _Rouge Shadow_, Starkiller exerted his mental strength even harder to locate his enemy's presence. In his mind, his vision penetrated the rainy planet's atmosphere and plunged deep into its watery surface. His vision then dashed on the surface to settlements and buildings built above the water. No malice can be detected within the cap-like structures and the smooth towers, aside from some petty evils. Time seemed to span for eternity, as he let his mind traveled speedily across the planet. It seemed that the presence of the enemy was a lie, when all of the sudden…

Starkiller's mind was pulled violently to the storm, as if something or someone was hijacking his mind. He struggled his mind to be free; yet when he sensed the corruption that gripped his mind, he knew that this was his awaited His vision was led furiously fast toward the direction where waves were lashing chaotically and lightning were bombarding wrathfully. In his vision, he saw several buildings like every Kaminoan structures. The difference was those structures were arranged in a line rather than in the traditional cluster formation. As his vision penetrated to the structure on the far back of the straight formation, and into a dark room that bore the striking resemblance to the _Rouge Shadow_'s meditation chamber, he saw a figure sitting in meditative position in the center. The figure's outfit resembled the enemy's; It was the Sith!

Starkiller quickly notice that the figure suddenly revealed his flaring eyes and gazed right to him, as if he was able to see Starkiller's directly.

"At last, Jedi, you are here." The Sith's voice echoed coldly through the room. "Come and don't let me waiting."

With his words' end, Starkiller felt his mind was freed and quickly pulled it away from the wretched den of the Sith. His consciousness finally returned to his mortal vessel, with his sweat already drenched his robes. He was still panting when PROXY called.

* * *

"Master?" The mechanical voice of the Holodroid chimed in.

"Y-Yes, PROXY?" Starkiller stammered and coughed; he was still in shock after the violent mental confrontation with the Sith.

"I have received transmission from general Kota's ship." PROXY reported. "It is inbound to our position in approximately one hour and thirty minutes. In addition, the general is waiting in the communicator."

"Thank you, PROXY." Starkiller rose to his feet. "I will be back to the flight deck momentarily. Just tell the general I will call him soon."

"Very well, master. I will inform general Kota right away."

Starkiller walked to the cabinet inside the meditation chamber, and pulled out a towel from the lower shelf. While he wiped himself clean from the sweat, his mind raced with trouble. The Sith was definitely holding something very secretive, very valuable that was somehow related to his recurring nightmares and visions. Starkiller wanted answers, and unfortunately those answers lie behind the nigh-inevitable confrontation with the Sith. The battle would eventually end with the death of either him or the Sith, and he did not want to be the one that met the energized end of the crimson lightsabers.

"No! I am not going to die!" Starkiller steeled his mind. He could not afford to be weak in the moment when he was needed to be strong.

"There is emotion, and there is peace." He chanted his own mantra, finding both peace of mind and strength in every words. With renewed mental fortitude, Starkiller walked toward to the other cabinet while he undressed himself from the soiled clothing. He pressed a button on the cabinet and the doors slid open horizontally, revealing a set of beautiful silverish armor. It was consisted of a pair of segmented pauldrons and boots, fitting body armor, a pair of plated protective gloves, and a helmet with white face plate. It was a powerful experimental armor exclusively made for him through Kaminoan technology, given as a reward for bringing down the Sith Lord Darth Vader. Thanks to its miraculously strong but lightweight material, Starkiller was not encumbered when wearing the suit of armor; he also enjoyed the protection from certain degree of damage caused by heavy blasters, explosives and force lightning when wearing it. Not only that, the sleek and flexible design of the armor enabled Starkiller to move and fight with greater liberty of movement. The armor itself was truly the pinnacle of the great Kaminoan crafts in manufacturing gears of war, rivalling the irrefutable ingeniousity of the Mandalorian craftsmanship.

"Sith or not, it's time to bring the enemy down." Starkiller said as he started to pull the armor pieces of Jedi experimental armor from the cabinet and put them on.

* * *

"Are you sure this is the right way, boy?" The general voice blared out from the intercom.

"Trust me, general." The force master replied to the mouth piece of the communication device on his head. "I have located this place through the force. It's just further to the north-east, passing this sea of storms."

The _Rouge Shadow_ and the _Avenger_, an Alliance's X4 Gunship, were rocking under the storm while moving fast above the chaotic water. Despite of the speed which the two starships were travelling in, the powerful gust and the heavy downpour still shook the starships even though only a little.

"I hope that you are right, boy. I don't like getting drown after going so far out here."

"Afraid of getting a little wet, general?"Starkiller joked, earning the general's scoffs.

"Say whatever you like, cheeky boy." Kota replied with a false annoyance in his tone. "You may be a great force user, but you are still wet behind the ears in terms of piloting."

"Is that a challenge, general?"

A mighty wall of water appeared and rushed to their position, ready to swallow them whole into the cold depth of the ocean.

"Just don't get left behind and be washed up somewhere, boy." The _Avenger_ then increased its speed toward the incoming Tsunami.

"Same goes to you, old man." The _Rouge Shadow_ followed suit.

* * *

_Starkiller had guessed that the general would not disappoint him, and it was proven true. Rahm Kota, arriving in the Majesty, a Corellian CR70 Corvette, cameto the designated rendezvous point bearing with his trusted troopers and commandoes. What Starkiller did not expect was the appearance of acertain woman from the past memories of Galen Marek: Juno Eclipse._

_What greeted Starkiller at the moment he disembarked from his ship after landing on the corvette's limited landing dock, was not the grumpy old Jedi that used to scold him every time, but a woman who used to be the pilot of the ex-Imperial stealth starship. Draped in her usual short-sleeved rebels' jacket on top of her casual attire that consisted of a sleeveless grey shirt and a pair of black trousers, the blonde captain welcomed the force master aboard the Majesty with a warm smile._

"_What are you doing here?" The astonished Starkiller said to Juno._

"_Very nice to see you, too Starkiller." Juno replied frostily with her smile washed away. She turned her back and ambled away from the presence of the force user. "Come, general Kota is waiting."_

_Realizing of his tactlessness, the embarrassed force master quickly undid his helmet and caught up with Juno._

"_Juno, wait up." Starkiller called as he finally caught up with the ex-imperial pilot. _

"_It's commander Eclipse to you, sir Starkiller." The frostiness of her tone did not drop as she kept on walking through the corridor._

"_Look,I am very sorry, okay?" Starkiller dropped his helmet, and quickly intercepted her path; he grabbed her arms, stopping her from moving any further. "I just….I just.."_

"_Just what?"_

"_I just don't want to put you in a danger again." He said while trembling a little. His face fixated to the white ground, too ashamed to reveal his concern to the woman._

_Unexpectedly, a gloved hand cupped Strakiller's cheek, allaying his troubled mind._

"_You're a good man, Starkiller." Juno Eclipse warmly said. Deep in her thoughts, she was utterly perplexed._

_She was running out of words when she listened to the force master's confession and deep concern to her safety. She never knew the clone of a man she once loved could be so protective about her well-being. Despite of having cleared the awkward relationship between the force master and the ex-pilot, that there was never a romantic feeling between the two, Juno could not help but felt ambivalent toward the man with the same face of her previous beloved. He was an enigma to her; He was seemingly unwilling to help the Alliance when contacted by Kota, but when she contactedhim, Starkiller almost readily accepted the mission. She feared that her unusual connection with the force master would be manipulated and exploited by both imperial and Alliance alike. But due to Kota's tactful interference, such things did not come to pass. _

"_Thanks, Juno." Starkiller puthis palm on top of Juno's caressing hand. He raised his eyes to meet with Juno's gaze, and smiled. Although he did not find a single inch to have affectionate feeling toward her, Starkiller knew she was someone that he treasured as a friend. Even though he was no longer driven by visions, if given a chance, Starkiller would not be hestitant to jump into Imperial garrisons to save Juno again. It was rather illogical for Starkiller to do such length for her, but he did not mind. A rather complicated siblings-like relationship happened between the two._

"_Come, don't let Kota wait for you." She pulled down Starkiller's hand. Without breaking her grasp from his hand, Juno led Starkiller to the conference chamber. "He'll scold you again."_

"_Nah, it's okay. I am used to it." Starkiller said as he put a little pressure onto Juno's frostiness and the unease melted away as the two exchanges stories during their little trip to meet the blind Jedi._

_Things were quite complicated between the two. However, unknown to both of them, Juno and Starkiller let their strange relationship to flow naturally, with the thought that someday they would develop such relationship, not as what it was in the past, but as what it was in the present._

* * *

"Starkiller! Pull up!" The general roared through the communicator. "You're going straight to the Tsunami! PULL UP!"

"No way, general. Our destination is just right behind this giant wave." Starkiller stubbornly replied. "Besides, I got this." The _Rouge Shadow_ sped up toward the tidal wave, leaving the _Avenger_ to break away from the formation and gain altitude in order to avoid being swept by the tsunami.

"You stupid son of a Bantha! Pull up, NOW!"

"No!" Starkiller swiftly activated the targeting system, and red circle appeared on the starship's monitor.

"PROXY, fire when I give the signal."Starkiller commanded while trying to find a viable target in Rouge Shadow's monitor. "We are going to make a hole through the wave."

"Master, by my calculation, the success chance of your plan is 0,000001%" PROXY declared, his mechanical voice failed to hide its fear. "It's imperative that we follow general Kota's ad-"

"PROXY."Starkiller shouted, stopping the holodroid's rambling. "Do you trust me?"

"Without a doubt, master." The holodroid replied unhesitatingly.

"Then, trust me when I say this: It's going to work."

"Very well, master, I believe you." PROXY said while he prepared the firing solution on the ship's computer panel. "I am ready when you are, master."

"Good, Let's do this." The Rouge Shadow kept on accelerating toward the unstopping tidal wave. The distance between the stealth ship and its crews to their imminent demise was shortening by seconds, when finally…..

"FIRE!"

Two proton missiles launched from _Rouge Shadow_'s dual bow, straight to the inbound towering wall of water. As the water swallowed the ordnances, the explosion happened and cleaved a momentary pathway for the stealth ship to pass. Wasting no time, the stealth ship zoomed through the temporary corridor of water before the wall of water could collapse to the watery passageway.

"I told you!" Starkiller exclaimed jubilantly as the stealth ship that he was piloting escaped from the crumbling pathway of water. "I know we will make it!"

"You crazy son of a Bantha! Pulling off crazy stunts like that" Rahm Kota cursed loudly through the ship's intercom. It was clear that he was not very fond of Starkiller's suicidal aerobatics. "I will let you drown if you ever plunged the _Rouge Shadow_ into the sea." The berating continued, yet Starkiller did not pay it too much of attention.

"Still, that was a impressive maneuver back there." The general sighed; he did not conceal his amazement to the youngster suicidal but skillful piloting.

"Heh, I told you I got it figured out."

"Keep that attitude, and you will lose your life anytime." The smug response was quickly rebuked.

"Alright, alright." Starkiller relented. He was going to say something when the ship's sensor lightened up, indicating the closing proximity of the ship to the destination. Despite of the terrible weather, Starkiller could see the structures that he had seen before in his meditation through the glass panel of the cockpit. "Kota, can you see it?"

"No boy, I am blind." The general sarcastic remark was transmitted to his communicator, making Starkiller to roll his eyes. "Of course I can see it through the force, boy; as clear as daylight."

"Haha, general." The force master replied in the same manner. "I see a landing pod at the front structure, Kota. I'll meet you and your men there." Starkiller told the old Jedi as he noticed a spacious platform on one of the structures.

"Alright, Starkiller." The general replied. "Just be extra careful when you arrive there first. We do not know when and where the enemies will be."

"Roger that, Kota. Starkiller's out." The _Rouge Shadow_ accelerated to the designated meeting point.

* * *

"I have a bad feeling about this, Starkiller." Juno spoke with a blaster pistol in her hand, as the group of several rebel soldiers and commandoes, led by the female commander and two force users marched warily through the empty rooms and chambers in the seemingly abandoned building. "There was no one in here, not even a single stormtrooper."

"I say." Rahm Kota concurred. His green lightsaber swung alertly. "Either this place is abandoned, or-"

"The enemy is waiting to ambush us."Starkiller finished his sentence. He too, was unnerved by the empty presence inside the buildings. His black-colored lightsabers were already activated when he entered the structure for the first time, already getting himself ready to face the stormtroopers' blasters assault. The "hijacking" of his mind during his previous meditation had made Starkiller failed to detect the enemies' presence, with exception of the lone Sith. Not only that, the excess of the dark side energy permeated from the buildings, had rendered his force-detect skill to be useless. Unable to locate the enemies, Starkiller decided to go for the offensive first and prepared himself for the full-frontal attack. Yet to his surprise, he found no one inside; not even a maintenance droid.

"Still, we need to keep moving forward. Maybe we will find answers on what this place really is."Starkiller said to the two, who nodded in unison. In logical state of mind, Rahm Kota would have berated Starkiller for wasting resources and time in a "wild goose chase" over some dreams and vision. But, knowing that the general's formidable force sensitivity was also able to feel the amount of the dark side oozing out from the place, he knew what Starkiller had said did really hold a weight. This was no ordinary Imperial facility; this was a dark place of the Sith, which probably held sinister experiments on cloning techniques.

"Keep your guard up,boy." Rahm Kota warned. "The dark side is pretty thick, and I am sure it's not by chance."

"Already on it, old man."

The group passed through the chambers and corridors rather slowly, finding several terminals and empty tubes along the way. The information found on the terminals showed them that this facility, called Rakesh, was part of the secret project that was held on Timira city. The rather remote establishment was supposed to be a 'priming' ground to 'filter' the stable clones of Galen Marek. Equipped with the prototype geo-manipulator technology that was fixed deep under the ocean floor, Rakesh was spared from getting swallowed by the Kamino's raging ocean. Not only that, the massive machinery itself was able to manipulate the weather in order to cloak Rakesh in perpetual storms, effectively blotting the facility from the map; thus making it a perfect hiding place from both Alliance and Imperial forces. Added with its highly advanced and sophisticated life support system and security system, the super-secret facility could effectively be managed by handful personnel and could also stay independent for centuries. It's no wonder that the personnel's identities did not exist in any known databanks, since they were all secretly handpicked by Vader himself.

"It's affirmative, master." PROXY said. The holodroid opted to stay behind in the Rouge Shadow in order to provide information. "Technically, these people never exist at the first place. Vader must have effectively wiped or heavily altered their identities in order to prevent the risk of information leak."

"I see. Thank you, PROXY."

"Anytime, master."

The party resumed their quest in the abandoned cloning facility.

* * *

Few hours later, in Rakesh cloning facility...

The mood of the party was shaken as they passed through the bridge that connected the third and the fourth structure of Rakesh cloning facility. They never knew the five-building establishment could hold such grotesque cruelty that Vader and his team had called as 'science'. The first two buildings that they entered proved to be nothing but the control center and the personnel's living quarters. However, when the small company of soldiers and force masters entered the third building, they all witnessed how depraved the secrets that the dark lord of the Sith was keeping. Instead of hundred of extremely deformed replicas of Galen Marek preserved inside the bacta tanks like the ones found in Timira city, they found myriads of mutilated clones on operating tables and inside preserving tubes. Many of them had their limbs and legs removed, only to be replaced by metallic ones. Some had their faces peeled off and their ribcages cut open, only to have metallic grafts be painfully inserted into the flesh of the unfortunate clones. Even from the outside of the transparent bacta tanks, cables and wires could be seen intertwining with the clones' nerves and veins. It was a macabre sight inside the building that was known as the experimentation ground, making several soldiers and commandoes either hurled or remarked negatively toward such monstrous display of perverted science.

"Ughhh." Jonah, one of Kota's trusted commandoes, wiped his mouth. His pale face clearly showed that he was utterly sickened by such sight. "Imperial bastards!"

Despite of the facility's impressive and state-of-the-art ventilation system, making the experimentation chamber to be totally odorless from the corpses' stench, Starkiller could still felt his stomach convulsed with disgust. The same was also happening to both Kota and Juno as both of them were showing the face of repugnance.

"By the force!"

"Oh, stars! I'm gonna be sick."

"Let's move on." Starkiller instructed. His helmet had effectively stifled his teeth-gritting.

"How dare he! How dare he treat his body and soul like some kind of a lab rat!" He cursed the Sith lord in his mind. It was a fact that as a clone, Starkiller was a very different individual from Galen Marek and his other clones even though they all share the same visual appearance. However, as a clone, Starkiller still inherited the same connection to the force that Galen Marek possessed; the same went to the clones as well. And because of that, Vader's toying with any of the clones meant that he was toying with the rest of them, including Starkiller himself.

Starkiller began to regret his choice in sparing Vader, but he needed his head to be leveled for the present time. Focusing his mind to the goal, Starkiller repressed his anger and kept moving forward toward the next building.

* * *

Unlike the previous structures, the fourth building, which was dubbed the proving ground, was actually living its name as the proving ground. As the group entered into the structure, they found a long, winding corridor that led them into a spacious circular area with dome-like ceiling. Although the large room was poorly lighted, the group managed to see the entire interior of the large circular room.

Descending Rows of benches filled the majority portion of the giant chamber; they were all set circling the smaller clearing in the center of the spacious room. A half orb-like lamp that was fixed in the middle of the dome-like ceiling illuminated the circular open area. It was clear to everyone that the proving ground was no other than-

"An arena." One of Kota's commandoes remarked. "This is an arena."

Starkiller and his two friends couldn't agree more to the commando's statement. This is indeed a dueling ground, where the clones probably dueled to the death for Vader's got an uneasy presumption if the vanquished clones would ended up in the tanks and tables that they had seen before in the experimentation ground; sustained to life only to be tortured further. Still, if this was an arena, where are the fighters then?

"Welcome, rebel scums." A cold, mocking voice echoed through the arena. The clacking sound of boots treading the stairs was loud enough to be heard by everyone. Then from the shadows, a figure in black stepped to the center of the arena and stood arrogantly facing Starkiller's party with his hand spread out, making the already tensed soldiers and warriors to fix their blasters and weapons toward the mysterious man. "I see you manage to find this place after all. So, tell me, what you think…. of my home?"

"Your home is but a sick mockery to human lives!" Rahm Kota exclaimed angrily while pointing his lightsaber toward the hooded person.

"Silence, old fool! I don't give you any permission to talk!" The figure hissed with his hand swung toward the aging general. An invisible but powerful push was directed to Kota. Even though with the general's considerable fortitude, Kota was struggling to keep his feet on the ground.

"You bastard. "Starkiller yelled. He was already in his battle stance and was inches away from launching himself toward the enemy. "Who are you?"

"Can't you tell?" The hooded person shook his head in disappointment. Two lightsabers' handle on his belt quickly flew to each of his palms. As he grasped his fingers to his twin lightsabers, crimson-colored energy shot out from the two metallic rods. The hooded one swung the deadly weapons with even deadlier refinement and quickly settled his body language into the one that was ready for battle- Starkiller's battle stance. "even now?"

An extremely displeasing premonition was formed in Starkiller's mind. He turned his face to his companions and they too shared the same face of uneasy suspicion. Starkiller had feared that this moment would come to pass, and here was he, facing the unfathomable truth.

"You are a Sith!" Juno shot out. Her DL-18 blaster pistol was fixed to the face of the black-robed, lighstaber-wielding enemy. "And it is the only thing that we should know about you!"

"Ah, you brought the woman, as well." The Sith said amusedly, his posture relaxed as if he was taunting the group. "She will be the death of you, you know."

"What do you mean?"

"Still, I have to answer the woman first." The Sith continued in his mocking tone. "No, woman. I am not just a Sith."

Deactivating one of his lightsabers, the Sith brought his free hand to his hood and pulled it down imposingly. As the piece of the cloth that covered the Sith's head fell, the light rained down to his head and his face, making it clear for all to behold and be fearful.

To say that Starkiller was disturbed after beholding the Sith's true face was an understatement. His appearance was the very mirror-image of his own; the buzz cut hairstyle, the eyes, the cheek, and everything else were the same as Starkiller's. The differences between their faces were the Sith's sickly green-pale complexion and his flaming auburn eyes that gazed sinisterly to him.

"I am better." The sith ended his introduction.

* * *

Kota and Juno, as well as few commandoes that had been present during the battle of Kamino, were utterly stunned. The enemy that they were facing was the other clone of Galen Marek like Starkiller himself, only somewhat eviler and more dangerous. The Sith grinned widely as he felt the group's disbelief and fear.

"It can't be." Starkiller said. Even though he knew that the facility he was currently in used to hold stable clones of Galen Marek, Starkiller still could not believe his own eyes.

"Vader never told you about his successful clone, didn't he?" The evil clone spoke while turning on the deactivated lightsaber. "Then behold, for I am the prime clone of all Starkillers." He arrogantly stated, with his lightsabers danced menacingly through the air.

"Prime or not, surrender now!" The old general demanded with his lightsaber pointing threateningly to the evil clone. "We've got you surrounded!"

"The stupidity of the Jedi!" The evil clone laughed. "Shouldn't Jedi be above ignorance? How Ironic!" He kept on laughing.

The evil clone then pointed one of his lightsabers to Starkiller. "If Vader's army couldn't even stop him, what makes you think that your puny squad can stop me?"

"You underestimate us, Sith." This time, it was Kota's turn to smile. "Though I am blind, it is you that couldn't see clearly. There are two of us here that could-"

"I wasn't finished, Jedi." The evil clone rebuked the old general angrily. The venom in his tone showed that he was somewhat offended by the blind Jedi's insolence. "As I was saying, you can't hope to defeat me!" lightning was formed around the energy blades of his lightsabers.

"Besides, I never said that I was alone."The evil clone finished his statement dangerously.

As the Sith's words ended, unknown figures began to decloak themselves and appeared in multiple positions around the arena, waiting in the shadows. The darkness of the arena hid them pretty well even though they revealed themselves from invisibility. Still, the metallic roar and hooting that the mysterious 'soldiers' produced were unnerving.

Two figures moved closer to the center area where the evil clone was standing, and as they entered into the light, their identities were made clear.

Garbed in black body-fitting suit and armor pieces, the monstrous looking soldiers stepped to the left side and right side of the evil clone; acted as the Sith's bodyguards. They have two metallic claws from their boots, and metallic cables that ran from their arms to their fingers, producing long sinister-looking claws. The armor pieces that they wore on their shoulders, shins, arms and chests shone glossy black. Yet the most imposing part of these "soldiers" was their skull-like helmets, giving off the specter-like appearance. The red sensor fixed on the side of their helmets beeped alarmingly, and the mechanical roaring intensifies.

"TERROR TROOPERS!"

Chaos fell as the exchange of blaster flares and explosives ensued.

* * *

Back in Dantooine, deep in the Alliance prison complex.

Darth Vader lie rather peacefully on a slanting metallic slab that bound him. Even though he was rendered immobile in some heavy harness, Darth Vader felt relaxed. He was feeling rather calm even though he was still left with one hand intact. His inability to move and to use the force was rather annoying, but it did not bother him much.

"Say, doesn't he look strange today?" One of the guard said to the other while looking to the Sith lord, displayed on the monitor of the security room.

"What? He's just leaning there all the time. How can he look strange?" the other guard replied.

"I know, I know. But somehow I can feel it. I feel that he is somewhat…happy?"

"What? Man, I've told you to lay off those Nikta! Those alcoholic stuffs are going to get your brain dead.

"Oh, for the kriffing sake, Dak. I haven't touched those shits for a year. A FULL STRAIGHT YEAR, I tell you!"

"Whatever, Jarek. Everyone in here knows that you would cheat your wife over a bottle of Novanian Grog."

"Why you-I'll k-hurghh."

The banter between the two guards ended when the sound of blaster sang. Dak and Jarek were lying lifeless with little smoking holes on each of their heads. The assassin, who had successfully gained entrance to the security room unnoticeable and killed the guards, planted a piece of machinery on the computer panels. Before he left, he set his sight to one the monitors which displayed the Sith lord in restraint.

"Well, well, well; might as well charge extra for this." The figure said in a mechanical voice before storming off the security room.

* * *

Darth Vader was in tranquility when he felt the sudden disappearance of the life force of the two sentries that guarded the Sith lord's holding cell. He also felt approaching presence of another person that he knew as the cause of the guards' lost of lives. As the massive doors sled open, letting the light to flow into his cell, Darth Vader saw the incoming assassin entered into room.

"Lord Vader." said the assassin. The Sith Lord recognized such person from the black T-shaped visor of the blemished green Mandalorian helmet that the person wore. "Looks like you are in quite a fix."

"I've been expecting you, bounty hunter." The dark lord spoke in grim neutrality. "I expect everything is in order?"

"You're welcome." The Mandalorian sarcastically replied. He aimed his EE-3 carbine rifle and shot the control panel beside the leaning slab that restrained the dark lord of the Sith. The harness fell apart, and the Sith lord was freed once again.

Using the force, Darth Vader unleashed his pent-up fury to the unfortunate machineries that had restrained him before. As the result, the metallic slab that had bound the Sith Lord was now stuck deep in the wall. The cell itself was brutally disfigured with many parts of its ceiling ripped apart and its walls stabbed with random items. Broken and twisted steels lie helpless on the floor.

"Interesting workout." The bounty hunter joked. Apparently, he was spared from Darth Vader's rage. "I hate to interrupt, but I have a schedule to catch."

"Very well." Darth Vader responded as he walked toward the opened door.

"Oh, before I forget." The Mandalorian bounty hunter recalled on something and took out a small rod from his utility belt. "I believe this is yours." The bounty hunter threw the rod to Darth Vader, who caught it with the force with his still intact hand.

The Sith lord said nothing as he activated the rod and red energy shot out from it. "You were successful to retrieve my lightsaber." Darth Vader said while he tuned his grip on the lightsaber. "I assume you have a plan to leave this place."

"Just this." The Mandalorian in green blemished armor set produced a detonator from his pocket. He pressed the button, and powerful rumble could be felt. Shouts and explosions emerged, and began to become louder and louder; signifying the ever growing Chaos in the prison complex. "And that, is the cue for us to leave."

"Have you informed the Empire of this location?" Darth Vader said as he walked to the corridor.

"Yes, I have" The bounty hunter answered as he walked alongside the Sith lord. "Your 'associates' are already waiting outside, too"

"Impressive."

"I expect my pay will be doubled for this?" the bounty hunter boldly asked

"The empire will RECOMPENSE you for this service." The dark lord replied while he kept on treading forward. The crimson lightsaber in his hand was buzzing angrily.

"I'm glad we have agreement on this." The bounty hunter said as he kept his pace with the Sith lord. "So, after here, where to next?"

"To the hunt!" the cold mechanical voice of the dark lord of Sith ricocheted the walls of the corridor; intensifying his already-considerable appalling figure.

* * *

"What's the matter, Jedi? Feeling tired already?" mocked the evil clone, as he launched heavy crates to Starkiller. "Do you want to take a break?"

"I've told you, I. AM. NOT. A. JEDI!" Starkiller retorted while launching a powerful energy sphere to blow the incoming crates away.

"Pitiful, you are even not a Sith." The evil clone kept on the offensive, utilizing force lightning and saber throw hand-in-hand.

"Grrr, SHUT UP!" Starkiller countered the attack with the combination of powerful force push and saber barrier.

"Make me!" The clone yelled as he evaded Starkiller's spinning lightsaber and grabbed his returning lightsaber. "That is if you can catch me." The clone exclaimed as he landed and run further away from Starkiller.

"Come back here!" Starkiller roared as he gave chase in the connecting bridge to the final structure of Rakesh cloning facility.

* * *

Starkiller did not like with the progress of the battle. The Sith was drawing him further and further away from his companions; the evil clone did not engage Starkiller in serious combat and had been taunting him to pursue the Sith. Starkiller smelled a trap was waiting for him, ready to be sprung at any time and He didn't like it. He didn't like the idea rushing to the unknown without the help of the old general's expertise and the fleet commander's marksmanship. Still, he didn't want to harm his friends; he would rather jump blindly into the ambush than leading his friends to their doom. Recalling his nightmares and visions, Starkiller assumed that those premonitions had something to do with the current predicament. He made sure that the worse did not come to pass.

"_What do you mean 'stay here'?" Kota yelled while he deftly sliced the arm of the terror trooper that suddenly appeared behind him. "Do you intend to take him on yourselves, boy?"_

"_Trust me, Kota." Starkiller evaded and deflected several stun blasts from skull-faced troopers. He then unleashed a mighty violet lightning storm toward the hostile crowd of terror troopers, stunning them and making them all jolting uncontrollably as violent electricity ran though their bodies. "I can handle him myself."_

"_But, he is very powerful, boy. I can feel it." Kota argued. He was using force push to blow away the pouncing terror trooper to the wall. "He is you, after all."_

"_I said I can do it!" Starkiller furiously launched a lightining-imbued energy sphere to an unfortunate terror trooper, who was taking potshot from the shadow. The energy ball was so powerful that when it detonated upon impact, the said trooper was instantly disintegrated into nothingness. "This is something that I have to do for myself."_

"_Very well." Rahm Kota utilized his masterful soresu to deflect the incoming attacks. "What do you want me to do then, Starkiller?"_

"_I need you-"The black-colored lightsaber intercepted the orange-colored energy fire from finding its mark. "and Juno-" Another swung maimed a now one-armed trooper. "-to stay here and-DUCK!"Starkiller yelled to a commando while he threw his lightsaber toward the said soldier. The commando took the cue and did as had been told, letting the weapon to pass above his head harmlessly and find its true target: the head of a skull-faced trooper. The severed head of the enemy fell unceremoniously to the ground, and the energy weapon returned to the force master's hand. "-lead your men to hold off the enemy. Can you do that for me?"_

"_Of course-" The old Jedi launched several benches with the force toward the troopers who evaded them rather easily, only to have their back blasted from the blaster barrage that Juno and several rebel soldiers fired. "-I can do it, boy. What do you think I am? A blind fool?"_

"_No, not fool. Just a drunkard."Starkiller quipped as he electrocuted a trooper with one hand, stopping him from moving any further and letting a nearby rebel soldier to finish the job. _

"_Heh, cheeky son of a Bantha." The blind Jedi replied as he repelled another slashing attack from the troopers with the force. "Alright then, we will cover this side."_

"_Thanks old man."Starkiller sidestepped an incoming slash and countered it with a brutal downward slash that left the attacking trooper to pieces. He was going to storm off the body-littered arena chamber when a feminine but strong voice called his name. He turned his head to see Juno; her concerned face was clear for Starkiller to see as she had been nearby when the conversation between him and Kota happened._

"_Be careful."_

"_I will." And with it, Starkiller stormed off the chamber to give chase his evil clone._

* * *

Starkiller kept his pace behind the Sith while occasionally evading random debris that the evil clone threw. He recalled the fight against the nefarious terror troopers that he had previously in the arena. Although he had previously held no qualms with the death of rebel soldiers during the Alliance's invasion of Kamino, he felt a bit saddened with the Alliance casualties on the arena chamber. Even though the presence of two force masters had tipped the advantage for the rebels' favor, the losses on the rebels' side could not be prevented. Bodies began to pile up in the explosion filled feared that with his departure from the battle, the fight that the rebels had with the forces of the Sith would be even harder.

"Watch out for the big ones!" A mocking yell broke Starkiller's reverie. Underneath his helmet,Starkiller saw speeding debris that ranged from crates, computer terminals and huge tubes werehurled at him. With his force-enhanced senses, Starkiller skillfully evaded them.

"Impressive." The clone said contemptuously while he deactivated one of his lightsabers and reattached it on his belt. "But can you handle this!" He raised his open hand above his head and with the power of the force, he ripped open the roof of the bridge. Debris started to rain down on Strakiller, with giant piece of metal that used to be the roof of the bridge floated menacingly above his head. The clone smiled evilly as he swipe his hand downward, making the massive metal fell toward Starkiller.

Wasting no time, Starkiller ran to the side to avoid being crushed to death. In fluidity of movement, he jumped to the walls and kicked ithard to send himself the opposite side. His feet met the skidded metal, and with the help of the force, he propelled himself to the open gash of the bridge.

Thunderstorms were waiting for Starkiller outside. He felt the seeping cold across his body as the rain poured heavily on his experimental suit of armor, while he ran on the intact part of the bridge's roof. With the force leap, Starkiller managed to land safely on the elliptical roof of the final structure of Rakesh cloning facility. He looked around to find the evil clone, and managed to see him standing not far from the central lightning pole of the structure.

"Very wonderful. It seems you are not without skills." Starkiller's evil clone taunted. "It seems you are not as weak as you look."

"Why do you lead me to here?" Starkiller yelled. He had had enough with the evil clone's mocking and dangerous mischief. "ANSWER ME!"

"Impatient, aren't we?" The Sith laughed at the force master. He pressed some buttons on his wrist and a nearby big trap door flipped open, revealing a path to the inside of the structure. "All in due time, Jedi. But first, follow me."

Ending his sentence, the Sith jumped into the open door, leaving Starkiller to follow suit.

* * *

Starkiller hated the evil clone to the guts. He hated him not because of his nature of user of the dark side, nor was his mocking and mischief. No, he hated the evil clone mostly because his stubborn addressing Starkiller as "Jedi". Starkiller loathed such moniker on himself, even though he was a force user. The reason for his discomfort in using that title was not because he hated the ancient venerable order and its follower. The real reason was because Starkiller had a very different belief on the force. Although he accepted in certain degree several teachings of the Jedi Order, he could not agree on the Jedi limitation on the using of the force. In Starkiller's belief, the basest and probably the truest concept of the force, despite of its abstraction was that it made everything in the universe- even the dark-sided and the light-sided. The entirety and the omnipresence of the force could not be pettily limited to dark side and light side like black and white, for it was everything. Since it made the entire thing in the galaxy, the concept of limiting the use of the force was absurd to Starkiller. The force itself was the ever-changing power, that none could only hope to be beyond the force without ever realizing it. Even the ancient emperor of the Sith, the one that came before Palpatine, was made little before the force itself.

For that reason, Starkiller made his own mantra, the one that derived from the teachings of both the Jedi and the Sith. If the Jedi code represented constancy and the Sith code represented evolution, then Starkiller's mantra represented both as such was his nature and the force. For such reason as well, Starkiller did not called his apprentice, the young Luke Skywalker, as Padawan. He, too held no reservation on teaching his pupil techniques that was deemed dangerous or forbidden by the Jedi order. However, Starkiller still emphasized the importance of self-control and discipline in his teachings to keep oneself from straying too far from the path of the universality of the force.

"_Remember, Luke. The force runs to everything and in everything. It does not lean to the light nor does it lean to the dark. That's why, to be truly fluent in the force, one must walk the path that accept the virtues of both light and darkness."_

"_I understand, master. That's why in the mantra, there is a saying that says-"_

"_I am the force."_

Therefore, it was no surprise when Starkiller felt offended by the clone's calling him "Jedi". If Starkiller kept on the path of universality, then on what grounds could the evil follower of the eternal thirst for power claim that he was the follower of constanity?

* * *

Starkiller was fuming as he slid down the hatch and into the shaft that brought him into another dark chamber. The glimmering white outline from his black-colored lightsabers could only provide little illumination against the total darkness of the chamber. Still, as a force master, Starkiller knew better to rely on other senses rather than on sight alone. Enhanced by the force, Starkiller could sense the strong presence of the dark side within the room, although there was no sight of the crimson light from the Sith's lightsaber.

"It's no use hiding from me, Sith!" It was Starkiller's turn to taunt the evil clone. "I know you are here." His lightsabers swung ready for any surprise attack.

Then, all of the sudden…

The light appeared in the center of the dark room. Instead of illuminating the entire room, the pillar of light displayed a floating object that was suspended immobile in the bask of light. Starkiller moved closer to the light in order to gain a better sight to the object. As he ambled before the pillar of light, Starkiller was aghast to find out that the object was a dead body.

It was not just an ordinary body!

It was clothed in some sort of thick raiment, with its shins and arms covered in convolution of bandages. Heavy thick belts surrounded its waists. The corpse also had a buzz cut hairstyle with the same physical appearance of Starkiller himself. Even though the breath of life had long departed from such body, as Starkiller detected no life-force emanating from it, there was still residual trace of the force within it. The residue showed the similarity of the connection to the force that Starkiller now possessed, and it was not the same like those in the clones. The trace of the force was ancient and somewhat rougher in texture than those possessed by the clones. A revelation struck to Starkiller's mind as he knew who was the one floating in the light. It was not a simple body of a clone. It was the body of –

"Galen Marek!"

* * *

Starkiller wanted to scream, but somehow his throat refused to produce any sound and his tongue lie lame. Painful memory surged into his mind, especially the one when Galen Marek single handedly contained the Emperor's furious lightning.

"So you know who that is." A lone voice rang in the shadows. "Vader said most of us went crazy when shown to this…thing. It seems you have the mental fortitude like I do, or…Vader is lying."

Starkiller was still trying to cope with the memory surge. His own past memory of finding out his identity as a clone appeared only to worsen the situation. He was not combat ready and would surely fell if the enemy employed a surprise attack.

"WHERE ARE YOU!?" Starkiller yelled ferally while he looked left and right for the enemy.

"I'M RIGHT HERE!" Twin crimson lightsabers cleaved downward to Starkiller's head. In split seconds, Starkiller managed to recollect some of his consciousness and sound mind; and with it, he was able to create an acceptable defense with his two lightsabers to block the attack. Sparks flew as the energy blades grinded against one another in a fierce blade-lock.

"I can feel your mind seeping away to the darkness." The evil clone coldly mocked. "What's the matter, the revelation's too much for you?" He pressed even harder; the blade-lock tilted closer to Starkiller.

"GRRRR, SHUT UP!" Starkiller pushed the blade-lock with his lightsabers, but to no avail.

"Face it, you are weaker than me." The Sith said while maintaining his already advantageous position. "Just give up and die!"

"NEVER!" Starkiller furiously replied, only to be thrown away by the Sith's force push.

"Pathetic. Such weakness will cause you your death." The Sith mocked while walking intimidatingly toward his opponent. He purposely took his time in sauntering toward the downed force user. The evil clone decided to break his opponent even further before taking his life.

Starkiller felt helpless. He was in pain after being pushed violently by the Sith, but he was far from being wounded. He, too was far from being tired, yet his bodies seemed to refuse to move. He was even struggling to get up after being thrown.

"Damn it, am I this powerless?" He questioned himself while his body quivered. "Am I going to die here?"

"_Don't give up!"_

"Huh?"

"_Don't give up! You are not weaker than him."_ Starkiller recognized the voice. It was the voice that he had heard during the moment of his unconsciousness in Tatooine!

"_Who are you?"_ Starkiller asked with his mind-voice.

"_There is no time! Remember: Always follow the force! Follow your code!"_ the voice faded away.

"Whoever you are, thank you." Starkiller whispered underneath his helmet.

"Talking to yourselves?" The Sith jeered as he caught what Starkiller said in hushed tone. "Have you finally gone mad?"

Starkiller rose to his feet. "No." He replied neutrally. "I only find the way to defeat you." His tone reflected his returning spirit. The encouraging words of the disembodied voice had helped him in regaining his senses and reason.

"Big words for a broken Jedi." The evil clone snarled. "Let's see if you can back those words with your head severed."

The Sith leaped swiftly to the armored Jedi. His lightsabers were held in a position that was ready to decapitate the immobile man. It was clear that the victory belonged to the Sith, yet unfortunately for him, it did not happen. Instead of executing the Jedi, the intended target adroitly avoided the blow and countered the attack by sending a powerful kick to the Sith's back before he landed on the ground. The strength of the kick, added with the momentum of the descent, sent the clone painfully to the wall.

"There is passion." Starkiller calmly said as he pulled his lightsabers from the ground with the force. "And there is peace."

"Khh, lucky shot." The Sith pulled himself out from the crater on the wall. "You won't be so lucky next time."

The clone unleashed a barrage of lightning-imbued force spheres to Starkiller. Explosion rocked the chamber, but Starkiller was unhurt. He dexterously evaded the impact while launching his own counter-measures in the form of force push. Through the force, Starkiller deflected the energy bombs before they could harm him.

"Impossible!"

"There is strength, and there is serenity." Starkiller reactivated his black-colored lightsabers and swung them ready for combat. He ambled slowly toward the Sith.

"EAT THIS!" It was the clone's turn to be angry, as he drove gusts after gusts of force push, which Strakiller easily sidestepped. The armored force master was closing in as he increased his pace. With crimson lightsabers in both of his hand, the evil clone dashed toward his opponent to met him in lightsabers combat. Once again, the warriors fixed in the blade-lock.

"This can't be!" The Sith yelled in disbelief. He had channeled his fury to overpower the silver-armored warrior, but he did not even budge from the pressure. "How do you find such power?!"

"There is power, and there is knowledge." Starkiller cooly replied, further aggravating the Sith.

"Oh, spare me from your meaningless lecture." The angry Sith broke away from the blade-lock and deliver a furious flurry of slashes.

Starkiller responded the attack in the same fashion, only the fashion of his assault was calmer than before. For each blow intended for him, Starkiller skillfully blocked and redirected them away, giving no chance for the Sith to deliver a mortal blow. Their mastery of combat forms were brought to play, but still the Sith gained no advantage over Starkiller.

"Rrraagh!" The evil clone channeled his dark energy to his lightsabers, extending their length and imbuing them with powerful electricity. He drove them downward, only to be rebounded by a massive burst of force push launched by Starkiller through his lightsabers. The Sith moved to attack the lower region by sweeping his lightsaber to his opponent feet.

Starkiller, knowing his enemy's trick, spun himself to the flow of the attack albeit faster; thus missing himself from getting struck by the enemy's lightsabers. Using the momentum of the spinning, Starkiller swung one of his lightsaber backhandedly toward the passing lightsabers, warding them away and staggering the Sith. Caught off guard from such parry, the evil clone was stunned and did not realize that his opponent already deliver his riposte. As the result, his opponent other black-colored lightsaber grazed the flesh above his elbow.

"Yearrggh!"The evil clone madly yelled like a wounded beast. The searing pain stung his flesh greatly that he dropped one of his lightsabers. He managed to jump backward in retreat and readied himself in shien form battle stance, before his opponent could launch any attacks.

"There is victory, and there is harmony." Starkiller's neutral tone taunted the injured Sith. Although with the injuring of the Sith raised Starkiller's winning chance exponentially, he kept his mind calm and his fury controlled.

"Let's see if you can keep on saying that nonsense after THIS!" The black-clad clone drove both hands to the front and let loose a furious violet thunderstorm. Starkiller would surely be electrocuted to death if he did not generate his own lightning barrage on the right moment. The furious tendrils of electricity battled against one another, and stray sparks randomly scorched the several places in the chamber. The flashes of the lightning battle illuminated the room, while crackles and fizzles echoed. The focal point where the two lightnings met was blazing white as it moved back and forth.

Although his facial appearance was hidden underneath his battle helmet, Starkiller was strunggling with difficulty. He was sweating profusely as his hands began to tremble. In this lightning push-of-war, both contenders' proficiency in channeling the force to generate violent lightning was tested to the limit. Not only was it the battle of force power that each of them possessed, but also a battle of willpower and mental fortitude. Loss of focus will certainly result in the loss of life.

As the battle dragged on, electrical surges from the two lightnings began to flow to the hands of the warriors. Pain stung powerfully into their hands, but none of them seemed to relent.

"Can you feel your life-force ebbed away?" The Sith grinned even though his body started to tremble. Sweats can be seen dripping from his temple. He, too was struggling to keep the offensive. "Let go, and embrace your death!"

"The force…provides me everything…that I need." Starkiller defiantly replied. He was not going to lose and die here without knowing some answers. "There is freedom,…and there is unity." He continued his mantra to keep his mental fortitude strong.

"YOU….CAN'T…WIN..THIS!" The clone laboriously yelled as he channeled even more fury to the attack, making the violet lightning to glow even brighter. The focal point began to shift to the direction of Starkiller.

"I…WILL…NOT…LOSE…FOR…I AM….THE FORCE!" Starkiller, too released his entire fury into the lightning with formidable focus. The thunderstorm that he generated from his palm shone brighter.

The intensity of the force within the clashing points of the lightning rose dangerously. It seemed it was ready to explode at any time, when suddenly the unpredictable happened.

Instead of exploding, an anomaly occurred in the form of the ever growing energy ball. The lucid, unstable energy sphere began to expand and blanket the focal point. Then it began to grow as more and more spaces between the two fighters were covered. It was clear that the energy blanket would soon envelop both Starkiller and the Sith.

"What did you do?!" The Sith accused, demanding his opponent's explanation on the strange happening. Panic and uncertainty was in his voice, but still his hands did not stop from blasting out fiery lightning.

"It wasn't me!" Starkiller exclaimed. He,too did not give the Sith any chance to gain advantage against him. Thunderstorm ran furiously from his extended hands.

As predicted, the lucid energy screen soon devoured the still-fighting warriors. All of as sudden, the white-glowing focal point changed color into bright green, and soon the energy screen followed suit.

"This must be you trick, Jedi. I won't fall for this."

"I've told you, it's not m-"

Starkiller sentence was left unfinished as the green energy screen that enveloped them suddenly flashed bright and engulfed them completely in blinding whiteness. Scream was unheard and outlines of the form disappeared.

As the light died down, a giant circular scorch mark was left on the ground. There was no shouts, no hissing sounds of the lightsabers and no clashing of thunders. All that was left was a soft humming from the machineries that suspended the floating corpse of Galen Marek. There was no presence of the two monstrous warriors that previously did battle with fire and lightning in the chamber.

Starkiller and the Sith were no longer in there.

* * *

**This chapter is a tribute to George Lucas.**


	2. Double Trouble in The Summoning

**I am very sorry with the delay. The place where I work didn't give me the permission for a leave. Putting that aside, please enjoy this chapter!**

**P.S.: Star Wars is not mine, Familiar of Zero is not mine, and unfortunately, the Force is not mine.**

* * *

CHAPTER II

DOUBLE TROUBLE IN THE SUMMONING

* * *

In the land far, far away from the touch of Imperial cruel clutch…

….was a girl by the name of Louise Francoise Le Blanc De La Valliere.

The said girl, who had the most vibrant hair color of pink, was standing on a picturesque field of grass, along with her classmates. Little did she know that her day was going to turn upside down.

* * *

Louise was anxious.

Well, more than anxious to be exact. The little girl was extremely upset and distressed, as her mind was assaulted non-stop by horror and uncertainty.

The day was clear and relatively pleasant, with the sun shone mildly upon the grassy field of Tristain Academy of Magic, and with a slight breeze of wind caressing every blade of grass on the field. The mood and morale of every student, teacher and servant alike in the Academy were on its peak; except for Louise Francoise Le Blanc De La Valliere, who was shuddering in terror presently. Despite of the infectious jubilant mood all around her, the disposition of the youngest of the Vallieres was darkened with every breath of her lungs.

She was extremely worried. The intensity of her uneasiness made her stomach hurt and her head heavy. The pink-haired little noble felt a giant hot lump of iron suddenly clogged her throat, suffocating her from the inside of her neck. Every gulp that she took felt very painful, yet it was just one from her many agonies that tortured the little Tristainian from within. The pounding of her heart, like a sledgehammer crashing to the wall, rocked her petite frame. She was trembling in panic as her name was closer and closer to be called.

"What will happen if I fail? What will happen if the spell doesn't work?" Louise's mind was riddled with such questions. Her morale was worsened, as dark imagination born from her thoughts drained her courage and reason from her spirit.

"No, no, no! Louise! Get hold of yourselves! You are a Valliere, for Brimir's sake! Rule of the Steel, remember the rule of the steel!" Her mind frantically held off the creeping gloom by recalling her standing as one of the most influential nobility in the land of Tristain.

"But if I fail, I will surely be expelled! Mother will disown me, and I will be thrown away from home! I will live like a peasant!" Her efforts to allay the negative thoughts were instantly flushed into nothingness. Like a massive torrent destroying a cracked dam, Louise's mental fortitude crumbled, as images of her failure and the grim consequence of such matter flooded her mind.

"A RHYME DRAGON!" a fellow second-year student of the Tristain Academy of Magic yelled, which followed by a thunderous applause by other students. Apparently one of Louise's classmates, the genius and extremely talented Tabitha, who was her rival in academic knowledge of magic….in written, had successfully finished her summoning ritual by calling forth a beautiful blue dragon. From the summoned beast's outer appearance, Louise recognized that the rhyme dragon was still on its infancy. However, its sheer size and magnificence managed to drove Louise into jealousy. Her envy was further fueled when she saw the gentle dragon lowered her head benignly for the blue-haired sorcerer to pat and scratch. The dragon purred cutely like a cat as it relished in the comfort of the soft, kindly strokes given by Tabitha. Although her face was devoid of emotion, Louise somehow could felt the growing pride in her heart.

"As expected of you, Mademoiselle Tabitha!" The bald middle-aged man with small spectacles on the bridge of his nose, praised the blue-haired little girl with his own clapping of his said teacher in simple blue garb of a traditional mage was Jean Colbert, Louise's ONLY favorite teacher in Tristain Academy of Magic. The bald-headed man might be one of the most neutral teachers of magic in the academy, but he held great esteem to Louise.

When almost every educator magical arts in the academy had affirmed the youngest of the Vallieres as a complete failure in aspects of magic, Jean Colbert stood stoutly in her defense, quoting Louise's extraordinary aptitude in theory of magic as proof to her brilliance to be one of the best mage in Halkegina. Unfortunately, Colbert's earnest justification fell short in everyone's ears, including thefirst-years, the third-years, and the faculties; even her family members and the servants of her house were not spared from knowing the little girl's ineptitude.

"So, her affinity is wind, huh?" a busty red head spoke in a tone that truly aggravated the little pink-haired girl. Walking beside the red-head with its four legs was a big red salamander with a small flame on the tip of its long tail. "I already knew it. She's always the talented one, isn't she, Zero?" The girl deliberately emphasized the last word with stronger tone.

"What do you want, Zerbst!" Louise coldly answered back to the tall, tan-skinned girl. The said person in the standard white uniform, black short skirt and the black cloak of the second-year students was Kirche Augusta Frederica Von Anhalt-Zerbst, or just "Zerbst" for short. The girl was a noble that hailed from Germania, an upstart country which recently rose in status and power as one of the most powerful countries in the land of Halkegina.

* * *

Although its common folks and aristocrats were boorish and rather lacking in decorum and civility like those in Tristain, Gallia and Albion, Germania was the only country which possessed the mightiest military strength in the entire Halkegina. Because of such fact, it was not an odd thing to find the Germanian nobles acted arbitrarily in many places in Halkegina, including its small and unfortunate neighbor, which was Tristain. It was expected that such powerful country, like Germania would certainly expand its borders and in turn, swallow the weak and small Tristain into its fold. However, due to the intervention from the pope of the Holy Romalian Empire, Tristain annexation could be prevented with a peace treaty, although it was not without certain arrangement that certainly and slightly detrimental to Tristain's interest.

Like the average citizen of Germania, Kirche Augusta Frederica Von Anhalt-Zerbst possessed a certain trait of pridefulness that was contrary with her flirtatious character. Although the Germanian nobles were considered to be as brutish as their peasantries, the red-head beauty was certainly a candy for an eye. Such thing could be seen in her sheer height, her beautiful red-colored long hair, and her proportionate, well developed form. Her curvaceous figure was tightly covered in the white shirt, with two buttonholes on the top left unbuttoned. Such manner of fashion was intentional in order for the beautiful Germanian noble to be not suffocated in the rather tiny and tight uniform. Still, the slightly unbuttoned white shirt was barely preventing her breasts from spilling out completely.

* * *

"What an attitude, Zero! Is that how the Tristanian nobles act to their peers?" The red-haired Germanian scoffed, which Louise retaliated with a mute scowl. "I only want to see how you are doing, that's all." Kirche continued with a fake sweetness.

"Thanks, but no thanks, Zerbst! I know you Germanian are always up to no good." The pink-haired Tristain little noble answered back with a more aggressive tone. Her witty remark unfortunately, had no effect on the Germanian.

"Hah, if you think your insult has worked, you are utterly mistaken, Zero. Besides, what's not good about us Germanian, anyway?" Kirche said while pushing her enormous chest forward, jiggling her two mammaries slightly and making the petite pink-haired girl fuming with envy. The little girl unconsciously moved her hand to her own chest, only to disappointedly find out that she was losing severely to the Germanian.

Noticing how furious Louise's envious stare was, and where her hands were, Kirche launched another salvo of her mocking to the already fuming Tristainian.

"Maybe it was just YOU who have problem with me." She sighed in fake sadness, wiping a fake tear from her eyes. "Such thing was expected, a true and talented beauty like me will always be scorned by the likes of you, Zero, zero talent and zero sex-appeal."

"SHUT UP! I don't need those stupid cow-udders!" Louise angrily replied. The last comment from the Germanian noble bit hard on her mind. How dare this brute spoke her so! "Tristainian beauty is not superficial, unlike you Germanian brutes! Besides, my magic is greater than you, you stupid barrel-chested dunce!"

"Then, prove it, Zero! Prove it to us that you are not without magic." The Germanian goaded the little Tristainian. In appearance, Kirche seemed like a mean bully who liked to pick the pink-haired girl. But in heart, Kirche was a golden-hearted girl, who knew the weight of Louise's talent. The red-haired Germanian actually recognized her brilliance in magic arts, even though all that she could do was explosions even from the simplest spell. In truth, she was trying to encourage the girl; pushing her to outgrow herself from her degrading moniker. However, since there was a long history of bloody feud between the family line of Zerbst and Valliere, the Germanian had to resort into the tactic of reverse psychology.

"But wait, you don't even know your affinity yet, do you Zero? And you never perform a proper spell even if it is the simplest of spells. How can you ever hope to summon a familiar, eh Zero?"

"I know my affinity, Zerbst!" Louise lied as she put a false confident front. "Just you wait! I'll show you and the entire school of my affinity when I summon my brilliant and magnificent familiar, the one that will certainly outdo your overgrown red lizard!"

"Hey! You can mock me and my body, but you can never mock my wonderful Flame!" The Germanian quickly lowered herself to the giant red salamander that circled around her feet. She picked up the beast and hugged it lovingly, making the lizard croaked happily. "You are the best familiar in the world, aren't you Flame?" Kirche rubbed her face affectionately to her familiar's head. The beast croaked happily as a reply.

"Whatever, Zerbst." Louise said disgustedly as she turned her back from the Germanian and her familiar. Even though Louise was angry with the busty, red-haired girl, the little pink-haired Tristainian somehow felt her mood lightened after the heating squabble with her sworn enemy. Uncomfortable thoughts crept into the little Tristainian's mind. Was this a ploy to make her lightened up? No, it can't be! The Zerbsts were always the lifetime enemies of the Valliere! There's no way in the world that the foul-mouthed Germanian try to cheer her up.

"Mademoiselle Louise Francoise Le Blanc De La Valliere, please step forward and perform the summoning ritual!"The bald-headed mage exclaimed, which made Louise to turn her head to the direction of the origin of the voice.

Apparently, the central ground where the summoning ritual was to be performed had been cleared from Tabitha and her majestic familiar, and it was now waiting for the youngest of the Vallieres to enter and proceed with her beckoning of her own magical companion.

Hearing her name being called by the bald teacher, Louise felt coldness swept through her once again. It was her turn to summon her familiar at last, and now she felt her blood slowly froze within the veins of her body. However, this time, the uncomfortable sensation was milder than the previous one, making her wonder if her heated discussion with the flirtatious Germanian had something to do with it. Still, wasting no time, the petite pink-haired girl clutched tightly her wooden wand and strode proudly to the center ground, where the summoning ritual was to be performed. Bearing her newly acquired confidence, she presented to everyone on the field the air of high nobility in herself when she arrived to her appointed destination.

* * *

"Oh no, It's Zero!" One of the students cried out in a deliberate terror. "What are we going to do? She's going to kill us all!"

Soon, the other mocking and verbal abuses followed the initial insult. A chorus of jeering was erupted from Louise's fellow students. They were her classmates, but they were far from being her friends.

"Just go home, Valliere! You don't have the talent!"

"You are Zero and always be a Zero! Spare yourselves from humiliation and return to where you come from!"

"You shame us all! Tristain is better off without you!"

Louise gritted the concealed teeth behind her lips. Her brows were twitching lightly, and her vibrant pink-colored locks of hair were starting to rise in anger. Those insults from Louise's peers, the fellow second-years of Tristain Academy of Magic, did not sit well with the youngest of the Vallieres. However, the petite Tristain noble did not give her insulters the pleasure of watching her suffered under their verbal abuses, nor did she let them relish with her retaliation. She kept the common arrogant attitude that the nobility possessed, in the midst of the students jeering and mocking. Her face was hardened with anger, but her steel-like fortitude overcame her burning desire to exact vengeance.

"SILENCE!" Jean Colbert roared. His kindly countenance was transformed into a furious visage that could be likened as a demon. Ireful nerves popped out on the glistening skin of his head, and furrows appeared on his face as he put on the scowling expression of wrath. The bald teacher's wooden staff stood threateningly in his hand, ready to explode in order to silence the commotion.

"Louise Francoise Le Blanc De La Valliere is an esteemed member from the Valliere family line, and the respected student of this academy. I will not stand when you all callously insult one of your peers!"

The second year students were quickly silenced. Although Jean Colbert was seemingly harmless and rather odd, due to his bizarre experiments, there was something about the balding man that when he became furious, his countenance turned terrifyingly deadly. When it happened, it would certainly for the student's best interest to not testing further the length of the bald man's patience. There was something about the furious teacher that inspired terror and compliance from the students.

In rather indignant fashion, the second year pupil of the magic Academy stopped their mocking to the petite pink-haired girl. They were all unsatisfied and clearly unhappy to the fact that the untalented pink-haired was the favorite of the hairless teacher of the academy. Even though the order from Jean Colbert was absolute, and the seriousness on his face promised of severe reprisals for every transgression, the students were still holding a grudge against the one that they called as 'Zero', and secretly, they were plotting mean affronts for the little Tristain noble.

* * *

Looking satisfied after seeing her classmates got reprimanded for their verbal abuses toward her; Louise launched a smug grin toward her insulters before she turned to her defender.

"Monsieur Colbert." Louise's cute hand tugged the back of Colbert's blue robe, which made the bald-headed teacher to turn his face to her. She silently shook her head to the teacher, who quickly grasped the meaning of such mute gesture and sighed slightly. His terrifying countenance softened and returned to his normal, gentle ones.

"May I proceed with the summoning ritual?" The voice of the youngest of the Vallieres was full of confidence and courage, surprising even Jean Colbert. Seeing Louise in such manner, the bald teacher felt uneasily guilty; he admitted in his heart that he had previously doubted that the ritual would do anything, but good result for the young mage. Seeing the firm resolution in her eyes, Jean Colbert could not help but feeling proud in his heart. Surely the young one before him would be this age's greatest mage in Halkegina, even though Brimir himself had not blessed her with the knowledge of her own affinity!

"You may, mademoiselle Valliere." Jean Colbert stated to the young mage as he momentarily placed his hand on her little shoulder. "May Brimir grant you the partner that will shout out loud of your hidden talent, Louise." The bald teacher solemnly said, and promptly left the central area for the pink-haired girl to perform the ritual.

* * *

Feeling somewhat confident and happy, due to the Zerbst's unconventional motivational talk, and Professor Colbert's encouragement, Louise began to raise her wand until it was on the same level to her head. Her breathing was rhythmically calm and her mind was positively bright. Even though the image of her failure still looming, Louise felt that she could take on the world at the present moment.

Focusing her mind and tapping into her willpower, Louise swung her wand in an already practiced movement, and chanted the spell that she had been practicing for weeks.

"My name is Louise Francoise Le Blanc De La Valliere." The words flowed from her tiny mouth as easily as the air that she breathed. "Pentagon of the five elemental powers, heeds my summoning!"

Circular outlines of green light appeared on the ground, and it hummed with unseen power.

"Bring forth my chosen that exists somewhere in this vast universe."

The green glow of light from the magical formation on the ground brightened and rose to the air.

"My divine, beautiful, wise and powerful familiar, heed my call!"

Out of nowhere and in the middle of the air above the magical formation, a green sphere of energy appeared and began to expand. Its size kept on increasing for each passing moment. The crowd, including Jean Colbert and Kirche could only gasp and gulp nervously. Was this day the day that the one that called Zero finally broke her accursed luck as the most untalented mage? Or was this the day when they all meet their doom? Some of the students began to look for cover when they saw purple lightning bolts began to appear inside the giant sphere. Whine and yelps of terror began to arise, but Louise did not falter nor was she distraught.

"I wish from the very bottom of my heart, follow my guidance and APPEAR!" The young mage yelled the last phrase of her incantation and swung her wand downward. As the result, the giant, lightning-filled energy sphere that floated above her head crashed to the ground and exploded, engulfing every color in the blinding white.

* * *

"Well, another screw-up again. Perfect, just perfect, Louise." The pink haired girl berated herself. She did not know how long the time had passed since she woken up in the strange plane of total pallor. She could not feel, see or hear anything, for everything was completely white around her. She only remembered that she was previously performing her summoning ritual, which resulted in a massive explosion...again. "The good news is you probably killed yourselves with the mess-up spell, and murder the entire class in succession." The train of thought of the continued

"So this is the afterlife, huh? Not so bad after all. No more insults from Zerbst and others, no more scolding and punishment from mother, and no more…..hugs from big sis Cattleya." Sadness crept into the spirit of Louise Francoise Le Blanc De La Valliere. It was strange to find that even the spirit of the dead could suffer the formless, uncomfortable pain of sadness. In flesh, she would probably be in tears. However, in spirit, the only thing that she could produce was a soundless wail. She screamed and screamed, yet only silence came out from her spiritual mouth.

"I am a failure after all, in life and in death." The girl continued to wail, as the memories of her life passed before her sight. None of them was worthy to be called as an accomplishment. Failure followed with another failure, was the song of her life. She was a disappointment of the Valliere, and now she was dead.

"_Wake up, youngling_." A strange ethereal voice reverberated in the realm of total whiteness

"Huh."

"_This is not the place that you should be._" The voice spoke again, this time with a much commanding tone. "_You destiny awaits you, little one. Wake up, now!_"

"What? Who are you?"

"_There is no much time. Follow the man that walks on the path of all, for your fate intertwines with him._"

"I don't understand."

"_Follow him._" The voice weakened, and was slowly fading away. "_Follow the one that kills the stars._"

With the voice finally diluted into silence, the spirit of Louise Francoise Le Blanc De La Valliere was violently yanked by a powerful, invisible hand into the land of the living.

* * *

The little eyes of the pink-haired mage droopily opened, as she felt a strong tug on her shoulder; the shaking awakened her from her dead-like slumber. Not only that, the little mage also heard a loud shout calling out her name.

"Louise! Hey, Louise!" The half-awakened pink-haired girl recognized the concerned voice that called her name. It was the bald teacher's. "Are you alright? Hang in there!"

"Huh." The Tristainian answered senselessly. The little girl was still trying to return to her senses after a brief visit to probably the afterlife. Although her sight was blurred, she could see the bespectacled face of Jean Colbert, who was now looking rather relieved.

"Thank Brimir, you are alright!" The teacher broke a smile on his mud-stained face. He was extremely relieved to find the little girl unharmed, only shaken.

"W-what….happened?" Louise groggily asked as she was helped by the balding professor to rise to the sitting position. The blurriness of her vision was quickly fading with few blinks of her eyes. With her eyesight restored, Louise could see a cloud of dirt spreading all over the field, including the area where she previously stood to perform the ritual. She could also hear the coughing and wheezing of her classmates as they choked on the dirt in the air.

"It's jus-"

"I tell you what happened!" A chubby second-year student with a dirtied blonde hair interrupted the balding teacher from finishing his sentence. His face was flecked with dirt and dust. "It's you! Your screw-up happened! Seriously, are you trying to kill us, Zero?!"

The smoking cloud of dirt started to thin-out, and from it, came out the second-year mages, who all had the spiteful gaze on their eyes, and all of them were directed to the pink-haired girl.

"Go back to the rock where you came from, Zero!" The blonde girl with twin curly drill-like hair, shouted nastily toward Louise.

"A failure like you will never be a real mage!" A male blonde student with an open shirt that showed his chest, pointed a finger accusingly toward the berated girl.

"You suck, Zero!" Another vicious verbal abuse followed, and soon the entire class voiced their discontent and overwhelmed Jean Colbert's attempt to appease the angry crowd.

"You are lucky that you are a Valliere, Zero! Otherwise, my father will have you hanged!"

"You are only fit to be a servant girl, Zero!"

The last comment pierced her heart. Her eyes were sorely tempted to spill out the tears that she had been holding back. But remembering what her mother had said that tears were signs of weakness and that the Vallieres never tolerated weaknesses, Louise quickly turned her eyes away from the crowd. Her head was hung, with her face concealed in gloom. The balding professor saw this and quickly intervened to stop the harassment from going on, yet only to fail for the mob's angry shouts were spreading fast like a forest fire.

While the insults and berating from her peers continued, Louise cursed her ill-luck inwardly. Biting her lower lips deeply while trying her best to hold the tears from pouring out from her eyes, the youngest of the Vallieres regretted that she had not been killed in her latest foul-up. It would have been better for her if she had never woken up. Was this the 'destiny' that the voice promised? Was it her destiny to face humiliation of being expelled and disinherited? How could Brimir be so cruel to her, to let her live in such bitter and disgraceful life?

Louise's self-wallowing continued as she sat dejectedly beside the large smoking site, where she had failingly performed the summoning ritual. Now she would never knew her affinity ever again, nor would she possessed the majestic and powerful magical partner.

"FZZZZZZZZZZZZ!"

The strange hissing sound that was followed by an odd buzzing hum broke Louise from her gloomy thoughts. Gasps and nervous gulps were heard from her insulters. The pink-haired girl quickly wiped her glistening eyes and took a quick glance to her classmates, who all possessed the uniformed expression of shock and alarm. Some even brought out their wands and staves in unconscious anticipation.

"W-what is that?" The fat student, who was the first to mock Louise, pointed his fore finger tremblingly toward the still rising smoke that covered the summoning ground in its dirty veil.

"FZZZZZZZZZZZZ!" the same strange hissing sound and the buzzing hum that followed it happened once again, and this time there were more of it.

Louise, who was still feeling down from her supposed failure, quickly turned her eyes to the direction where her portly insulter pointed, and found herself to be utterly stunned. Each of her eyes became as wide as a plate when she saw strange lights coming from within the thick smoke of dirt.

* * *

Louise swore that all of her long, pink hair was jumping straight from her scalp for a moment, when she saw floating poles of light, glowing from within the shadowy screen of smoke and dirt. There were in total of four of those floating light sticks, which divided in two pairs of different colors. One pair had the color as red as the bright crimson sun that set into the horizon; the other pair had the color as black as the night, with white-silverish outlines like a bright star. Those sticks of light swung and spun furiously, their swinging reverberated their unearthly drone loudly. The veil of dirt and smoke began to thin-out on the said area, revealing two shadowy figures that seemingly wielded those sticks of light.

Louise's heart skipped a beat as she looked upon the two unknown figures from behind the screen of smoke. Her sadness was quickly forgotten and replaced with the ever swelling hope. Were those two shadowy figures her familiars? Wait; was it even possible for a mage to summon two familiars at once? What were those things? And what were those sticks of light that they held in their hands?

"Who cares? I can finally summon not only a familiar, but two familiars at once! I am not a failure!" Louise screamed internally with gladness. Finally, she could prove to her insulters, especially to that brute of a Germanian, that she possessed an unparalleled magical talent that surpassed theirs. She too, could find out her affinity at last. Oh, how her heart was leaping with jubilance, as the images of the Little Tristain noble strutted with pride and glory before her jealous classmates, ran wild in her head.

Her joy, which could not be contained simply with a single smile, manifested in a single tear that flowed away from her right eye.

However, such joyfulness of the little pink-haired Tristainian was about to vanish.

* * *

The unknown figures began to spurt out angry shouts and yells toward one another in unfamiliar tongue that Louise and her classmates knew not. The intensity of the rage in their unrecognized speech grew to an even more dangerous level, while the swerving of their respective light sticks escalated to a more vicious turn. Even though the figure of Louise's summoned being were still obscured by the thin screen of dirt, the little summoner managed to glance at the purple-bluish lightning curls, which jumped and coiled around her mysterious familiars' sticks of light.

All of the sudden and out from nowhere, a strange but unpleasant thought hit the little Tristainian. Louise began to suspect that those sticks of light that were wielded by her supposed familiars, were not some kind of outlandish accessories. Their vicious swing and turn displayed the great animosity between Louise's summoned creatures, and it became clear to the pink haired girl that the glowing sticks of light in the hands of her summoned being were means to end one another's lives. They were weapons of an unknown origin; alien blades that promised of swift and unforgiving death to anyone who falls prey upon them. Her suspicion was proven true when her two summoned beings, in a brutal fluidity, swung their blades of light and clashed them against one another. Louise's summoned creatures entered into a mortal showdown of strength as they tried to overpower one another;flickers and flashes of light jumped lethally from the point where the blades met.

"Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT!" Louise yelled louder than the gasps and shrieks of the students in the background. She was both worried and embarrassed. How could her summoned creatures be out of control after being initially summoned? She would be a laughing stock for the entire class. The little Tristainian noble also did now want her newly summoned beings to kill one another, not after the difficulties that she had to endure to perform one proper spell. She had not even properly finished the binding ritual, for Brimir sake!

Her yelling finally bore fruit as the two mysterious familiars broke from the vicious blade lock and jumped to the opposing side from one another.

"Stupid familiars! I order you all to stand down immediately!" Louise commanded her two mysterious familiars while stomping her foot hard on the ground. Louise doubted that her command was understood by the two mysterious figures;yet at the very least, she got the attention from both of her summoned beings.

"Good, now come to-" Louise's words were interrupted by the sharp buzzing hum from a spinning blade of crimson beam that flew toward her. Its unyielding speed, reaching for the neck of pink-haired girl, signified the incoming demise of the little Tristainian's life.

* * *

"NO!" Starkiller shouted, as he utilized the power of the Force to pull the strange, pink-haired child toward him; missing the evil clone's saber throw from claiming the little one's Force master's last minute action had spared the child's head from being severed by the Sith's crimson lightsaber. The crimson spinning death passed almost harmlessly, as it missed its intended target and singed the dirt ground before returning back to its master's clutch.

Starkiller deftly deactivated one of his lightsabers, and dashed toward the Force-pulled child. He quickly caught the flying and screaming kid unceremoniously in one hand, while his other hand still clutched tightly on the hilt of his black lightsaber. The silver armored warrior had his one arm coiled around the waist of the pink-haired child, who was now kicking and screaming relentlessly. Starkiller did not understand one bit the words that came out from the little one's tiny mouth; he did not even know whether those words were cuss words or thanks. All that he knew was that the high tone in the young one's voice indicated that the child was a girl.

The little girl's screaming, kicking and pounding exhibited her wish to be put down. Unfortunately, Starkiller was unable to do so as he leaped sideways to avoid another vicious saber throw from his Sith twin.

"Foolish Jedi! Why do you complicate yourselves with that insignificance?" The evil clone of Galen Marek mocked in his usual spiteful tone, while catching his returning lightsaber with his hand. The hilt of the crimson lightsaber was welcomed into his grasp;the energy blade was skillfully spun afterward by the dark clone. "That youngling's life is meaningless! Your heroic attempt will only serve to weaken you and kill you!"

"No one is insignificant or meaningless before the Force." Starkiller sternly replied as he put the little one down to the grassy floor. The pink-haired child still pounded and kicked the armor-plated shins and torsos, while blurting out incomprehensible languages. The blows and the words of the little pink-haired girl had no serious effect on the Force master, who was garbed in the Kaminoan Experimental Armor; yet it certainly made foolish the seriousness of the present situation.

Activating the inactive lightsaber to life, the girl stopped and stiffened as she witnessed the black light with outlines of bright white sprung out from the hilt of Starkiller's lightsaber. The startled girl fell silent and immediately took a step back away with horror in her face. She quickly turned her gaze to the faceless white plate of Starkiller's mask and was agape to find the face was devoid of all emotion. Starkiller nodded slightly to the pink haired which she replied in the same fashion before she took another step back more from the Force master in silver.

"Only the Sith see weaknesses in everything, hence, weakening themselves in the process!" Starkiller exclaimed to his opponent with one of his black lightsaber pointing at the said man. "Look! Your wounded arm is the proof of such truth!"

"Humph, this is simply a scratch, nothing more!" The Sith answered back while swinging his crimson lightsaber sinto his habitual reverse grip. His tone of anger couldn't mask the fact that the swinging of the energy blade in his injured hand was slower than the other blade in his uninjured ones.

"Besides, you are a just a pathetic failure! A reject that Vader chose to destroy! How can you h-"

"Just give up!" Starkiller interjected furiously. By this time, Starkiller knew that his injured opponent, even though was still dangerous and powerful, was starting to wane. The damage that the Sith suffered on his hand had barred him from letting loose his monstrous skills in the art of twin Lightsabers combat. "You are at disadvantage, Sith!"

"Maybe, maybe not." Twisted smile was formed on the pale, cruel face of the clone of Galen Marek, as he turned his face toward the crowd in the vicinity. Immediately, Starkiller felt strong lurch in his stomach as foreboding uneasiness crept into his mind. His brain quickly interpreted the Sith's words and body language into threatening signs that he had feared the most.

"Your previous action had shown your weakness, Jedi! I've told you, haven't I? That it will only kill in the end." The Sith turned his glances ominously, from Starkiller to the crowd, then to Starkiller again. His grip on the hilts of his weapons was threateningly relaxed, as if the evil clone was ready to let them loose upon the bystanders.

"You wouldn't!" Starkiller yelled while the grip on the hilts of his weapons tightened. His intuition was proven true. The sinister intention of the dark clone was displayed clearly in his flaming auburn eyes, which gleamed most notoriously. The Sith villain was targeting the innocent lives!

* * *

In the past, Starkiller might have little to no regard to human lives other than those of his friends. He might not even care about the collateral damages and the innocent casualties that he had caused during his days as the Alliance's "Force adept of fortune". Yet, as days went on, and with the ever growing experience from missions after missions, Starkiller began to realize if he was to keep on treading on such violent path, he would certainly turn into the likes of Vader, who viewed human lives from a very cruel point of view. He despised the dark lord greatly and he hated the idea of turning into one in the greatest intensity. Starkiller was not some kind of rabid beast who could not differentiate friend from foe, and he was certainly not the type of a person who would use the power of the Force indiscriminately to wreak havoc and total annihilation to wherever he was set loose upon. Since the Force master was fighting for the sake of liberating the populace from the Tyrannical grip of the Emperor, doing such despicable act wantonly would certainly made him no better than the Emperor and his Force-damned minion, the notorious Darth Vader.

Through his communication with the Force and further aided by his mentor's furious advices, Starkiller finally saw his errors, and reformed himself to be more and more prudent in his actions. He started to see the lives of the people in different light; that they all shared the connection to the Force, no matter how miniscule such connection might be. Through meditation, Starkiller formed and held a rather simple understanding that viewed every life to be unmeasurable in worth, despite of their short and fleeting existence. Unlike the teaching of the Sith, the Force master acknowledged that each life in the galaxy, despite of the inequality between them, possessed the very power that formed the Force itself.

Since then, Starkiller became wiser in action. He would not employ deadly and destructive powers when the situation did not warrant such use of powers. The Force master too, would exercise mercy toward the enemy, if such thing was possible to be done. Although there was still a great deal of cases where Starkiller had to unleash his furious might upon the supporters of the Empire, there was also a great number of reports where the Force master selflessly throw himself to danger in order to rescue innocent lives. All in all, Starkiller had a neutral stance on the matter of taking lives. He preferred if he could protect the lives of the innocent rather than condemning them in early demise. But when a certain situation arose,the Force master would act adroitly in either ending or rescuing lives around him.

Therefore, it was not a strange thing if Starkiller was greatly alarmed when the Sith intended to murder the bystanders in order to goad the silver-armored warrior into a trap. It was not the Sith's ruse that truly concerned Starkiller, it was the safety of the unrecognized bystanders that were mostly younglings.

* * *

"Oh, I wouldn't, would I? The dark clone of Galen Marek said wickedly as his stance became even more precarious. Starkiller glared shadily toward his evil twin, as he became even warier at the dark clone's threatening behavior. The silver-armored Force master swiftly spun his grip on his lightsabers into his customary Shien reverse-grip; and in matter of seconds, he dashed toward the enemy afterward. Unfortunately, the enemy's intention had already manifested into action.

"Then, what about…THIS!" The dark clone yelled as he flung both of his lightsabers to the crowd. The horizontally spinning red blades of death dashed through the air while humming their signature drone; signifying their coming to take away lives in the most efficient speed. The energy blades were all poised-up and speeding evilly in the air, ready remove several heads from their bodies. Such thing would certainly be so if Starkiller did not interfere in the last minutes.

"HRRRAAGGHH!" Starkiller roared as he propelled his own black-colored lightsabers to intercept the red ones. The vertically spinning energy blades zoomed true to their aim for they met with the enemy's blades and clashed furiously in the mid-air. Sparks flew out at the impact, and the blades bounced back afterward. The spilling of the innocent blood was averted, but the danger had not yet ceased.

"Now DIE!" The Sith hurled purplish lightning bolts from his palms and fingers to the weaponless Starkiller. Taking the advantage of Starkiller's being distracted, the dark clone launched his attack in the form of the Force lightning. Unable to muster a proper defense in right time, the darting Starkiller was hit squarely in his chest by the villain's lightning discharge; and as the result, the attack successfully stopped him from going any further. The jagged streaks of electricity immediately appeared and enveloped the armored Force master.

"EIAARRGHHH!" Starkiller screamed of pain that burned into his entire body. He was quickly brought into his knees for the dreaded pain was unbearable for the Force master to endure. Even though he was covered from head to toe in a sophisticated suit of armor, it could only give a little protection from the fearsome might of the Dark side of the Force. He felt as if thousand burning needles flowed through his veins and into his nerves, frying and stabbing everything as they passed. He could even felt his lungs and his brain getting cooked from inside.

"Suffer! Suffer for your weakness!" The Sith reveled at his groveling opponent. His and Starkiller's lightsabers were lying dead on the ground. Apparently, after the lightsabers clashed against one another, their masters were engaged in another kind of duel that pitted their might in the Force, thus forgetting to pull their blades back. Consequently, both pairs of lightsabers fell after clashing against one another.

The words of the Sith was incomprehensible in Starkiller's ears. His sense of hearing had gone awry because of the pain from the lightning attack. The Force master struggled to fight off the pain and focus his mind in order to create a Force barrier to shield himself from the Sith's unrelenting barrage of fierce electricity. However, the pain was so intense that it rendered him to be unable in focusing his mind and calling forth the Force. Biting his lips, Starkiller tried to fight off the pain physically while the torture continued. White smokes began to rise from his armor-covered body, as Starkiller pushed himself with all his four from the ground.

"Your resistance is futile, Jedi! Despair, as your life ebbs aw-" The dark clone was interrupted by a passing fireball. Due to his heightened reflex, that further improved by the Force, the Sith evaded the massive ball of flame with relative ease. He somersaulted to the back, while pulling his distinct lightsabers from the ground.

* * *

As he landed, the dark clone spun himself to the direction where the attack was originated, while activating his lightsabers. The sight that the dark clone saw confused him, and aggravated him a little bit. Not far from the location where the dark clone fought with his Jedi opponent, was a bald man in a long blue robe, standing poised for combat; with a long wooden staff in his hand pointed furiously at the Sith. Behind him was a group of terrorized children, who all wore strange uniform of black cloaks and white shirts. Seeing the vicinity he was currently in, and also the presence of an adult with a class of younglings, the dark clone swiftly deduced that he and his opponent had been transported into some kind of educational facilty, with the bald adult as its educator and the young ones as its pupils.

The dark clone of Galen Marek also noticed the expression that the bald man wore. The teacher's face was furrowing angrily with his eyes staring threateningly toward the dark clone. The man's mouth let out words that were unrecognized by the Sith. But listening to the sharp and coarse tone that accompanied them, the dark side champion could grasp that the meaning of such unrecognized speech was far from being friendly.

"Are you the one that attacked me? And now, you dare to threaten me?!" The dark clone exclaimed in a dangerous tone to the bald man, while slowly approaching him. His pace was deliberately slow, for the dark clone intended to terrorize the group even further. The younglings' response was exactly as what the dark clone had always wanted: shrieks and screams of terror. There were only a few who stood defiantly to challenge the Sith, equipped only with some odd-looking twigs in their hands. Even so, their trembling limbs and blinking eyes betrayed their courageous front; the twinge of fear had stabbed deep into their hearts. It was clear that the show of his power during the duel had burned a memorable image into their brains.

The air was reek with fear, and the dark clone truly enjoyed it very much.

The teacher quickly barked the students to step back, which the younglings obeyed. The teacher displayed his concern and responsibility toward the safety of his students, by stepping forth before the approaching dark clone. The bald-headed teacher immediately changed his stance and pointed the upper end of his wooden staff threateningly toward the dark clone. His gesture was clear; he was challenging the Sith for the sake of his student's safety.

The dark clone of Galen Marek smirked amusedly. He would applaud the bald-headed challenger for his courage if he had been a worthy opponent. Sauntering slowly toward his soon-to-be victim, the dark clone readied his blades. His feral grin grew wider with every step.

Suddenly, without a warning, the bald man hurled another fireball toward the evil clone, only to be dispersed by the dark one so easily with a simple swing from his hand. The fiery sphere of flame was violently dissolved by a mighty burst of air, which made both the students and the teacher erupted in nervous gasps.

"You dare to attack me! A master of the dark side?!"The Sith clone yelled furiously toward his astonished attacker. He was intrigued by his opponent's wooden staff. It seemed that such unlikely weapon could produce elemental projectiles with considerable damage. The Sith too, could sense strange energy that closely resemble to the Force being channeled by the bald-headed man, from his surroundings into his wooden staff. The dark clone quickly suspected that his challenger had the ability to channel energy into his staff to produce such elemental attack.

Despite of his ever growing fascination toward the oddities of the mysterious place where he and his Jedi twin arrived, the dark clone did not falter from his intention to deliver a very painful demise to the insolent challenger. The Sith was quite displeased at the man's insolence for interrupting his fight with his force-sensitive twin; and he was going to make the audacious interferer paid the dear price for his foolishness. He increased his pace toward the bald-headed man, while swinging the lightsaber in his uninjured hand threateningly. "I'll show you what it means to cross me!"

The startled assaulter quickly regained himself from the shock and launched another flaming sphere from the tip of his staff, which only resulted with the fireball being dispersed in the similar fashion like the previous one. Even though his attacks were proven futile, the bald teacher stood firm on his ground in front of the students. He kept on bombarding the sauntering villain with more fireballs, trying to overwhelm the antagonist with the quantity of his assaults. Yet, before another attack was made, his staff was yanked violently from his hand by invisible force, which power equaled the strength of a hundred men.

* * *

Witnessing that his challenger had no intention to stop his futile attack, the dark clone decided to end his vain resistance once and for all. Tapping into the power of the dark side, the Sith extended his hand toward the wooden staff, and gripped it tightly with the Force. With the swung of his hand, the dark clone wrenched the staff from his attacker's hand, staggering the bald-headed man and leaving him weaponless.

"Taste the power of the darkside!" The dark clone, using the momentum of his opponent' shock, unleashed a powerful streams of lightning upon the bald-headed man. Without his weapon, and refusing to evade from the Sith's lightning in fear of harming his student, the stalwart teacher was directly hit by the purple-bluish thunder bolts. Screaming at the top of his voice as the sting of the lethal electricity bit into his flesh, the protector was finally brought down to his knees. He tried to resist the villain's attack, but the pain was too tremendous to be endured. Soon, the man slumped to the ground and jerked uncontrollably, as bolts and sparks of lightning unrelentingly and mercilessly whipped the unfortunate man's body.

The terrified younglings could only voice their terror with more shrieking. Seeing how helpless their teacher against the unknown villain, the students reluctantly yet frightfully backed away. Few with grave concern drawn on their faces,tremblingly stepped out from the crowd with odd little sticks in their hands, as if they were trying to take up the mantle of their fallen protector.

The dark clone smiled evilly, as he relished on the dread of the younglings. Their shrieks, accompanied by the screams of the dying man, were like music to his ears. He could see their faces drowned in despair and helplessness as they all witnessed how great the suffering of their teacher was. He could also see an odd winged beast of blue color, trembling and cowering behind the crowd, with its massive forearms sheltering its head. Be it from beasts or from men, the thickness of their fear was rich in the air; and it gave the dark clone more and more power to torture his fallen opponent even further.

Usually, the fearsome might of the Sith lightning would kill its victim outright with its extreme intensity. But for the dark clone, he used such dark power of the Force to extend the suffering of his foe. It would not be long when the power of the dark side took its toll on the unfortunate victim. Soon, the physical appearance of the bald-headed prey would deform as the destructive might of the Sith lightning routed every cells within his body. The dark clone, disregarding the stinging wound on his injured arm, extended the injured limb to unleash another barrage of force lightning to his slumped foe. He intended to speed up the process before ending his victim's pathetic life.

However, before he could pump another round of energy from the dark side of the Force into his palm, his instinct screamed of imminent danger. Without having a chance to respond to the danger, the dark clone was pushed away by a powerful blast of air.

* * *

"Damned Sith-spawn!" The dark clone curse, as he pulled himself from the ground to regain his composure after being forcefully pushed by a powerful burst of pressurized air. "Why don't you just die already?!" He gritted his teeth menacingly as he looked upon his other foe, who wore silver suit of armor all over his entire body.

The said opponent was now standing in front of the slumped and shivering bald-headed man, putting himself between him and the dark clone. The Force master's imposing pose displayed his heroic intention; the silver armored opponent was now becoming the defender of the unknown crowd behind him. His twin black-colored lightsabers were held steady in his signature grip, ready to unleash their master's righteous wrath.

* * *

"I will not let you harm anymore innocent lives!" Starkiller coldly stated as he deactivated one of his lightsabers and brought it to his belt. Using his now-free hand, Starkiller pressed the button on the side of his helmet, and with a hiss, the lock of his helmet was unclamped. He then pulled off his helmet, and brought his concealed face to the light.

The dark clone was not surprised to see that his force-sensitive foe had the same face as his, for they were both the replicas of the rouge apprentice of Darth Vader. Still, there were stark differences between those twins. Starkiller possessed a much healthier complexion that his dark side counterpart, and instead of flaming auburn eyes, he had a deep brown eyes, who was now blazing with wrathful sparks of blue.

Looking at his own face before him, the dark clone couldn't help but getting angrier for such face in his opposite direction, which was still devoid from the complete control from the dark side, sorely reminded him of the weakness that plague every replica of the weakling apprentice of the dark lord. The Sith clenched the handle of his lightsabers tightly with his fingers around them. Although such blight of a weakness did not afflicted the Sith, he still couldn't stand looking at it, especially when it strutted before his face with a suit of armor and a pair of lightsabers.

"I'll end you, right here and right now!" Starkiller let down his helmet, which dropped to the ground with a light thud. He pulled back the lightsaber that rested on his belt and activated the weapon once again. "Even if it is the last thing that I do!" He continued while readying himself in his Jarkai stance.

"You could never kill Vader! How can you ever hope to kill me?!"The dark clone laughed at the maskless warrior with a scornful tone, while preparing himself with the same stance as his opponent. His rage was intensifying, and soon, the dark clone's eyes were blazing with the same azure spark that flickered dangerously in his opponent's eyes.

"It is not by my power that I shall defeat you!" Starkiller proclaimed. "It is but, by the Force!" The Force master concluded his words and sped to the enemy with the Force enhancing his pace. Swinging his crimson lightsabers tauntingly, the dark clone fled toward his approaching enemy as well.

The interrupted mortal combat between the two force wielders resumed once again.

* * *

With their lightsabers bounced after the impact against one another, both Starkiller and the dark clone spun themselves by using the motion from the recoil, to deliver another lethal blow toward one another. Having already entered into the state where their rage-enhanced force augmented their strength and senses beyond the normal capability of a Force master, every blow and slash that Starkiller and the dark clone traded against one another was heavily imbued with violent bluish-purple electricity. Their bodies, from head to toe, were already bathed with the same energy. Thin layers made from crackles of lightning wreathed the entire bodies of the force wielders, and they sparked furiously every time Starkiller and the dark clone slammed their respective lightsabers toward one another.

Even though bluish screen of electricity ran through the exterior of his body, Starkiller still could feel the brush of the wind on his face and his was slightly thankful that his decision to remove his helmet was the right one. The dark clone's previous lightning attack that was inflicted upon him, had made a mess to the electronics of his Kaminoan helmet, thus rendering himself almost blinded inside the helmet. Because of that, he was forced to remove the silver helmet with white plate as its face guard. Still, Starkiller's lack of a head protection was compensated with a wider line of sight.

Starkiller dashed and leaped as he delivered his attacks and dodging accordingly to the Force master was keenly and avidly adjusting his tactics to adapt and counter his enemy's brutal and vicious approach to end his life. Due to both of the Force warriors entering into the state of Force-enhanced rage, the mortal combat between them rose to the level that was almost destructive to their surroundings. The grassy ground where they stood was scorched by the lightning produced from their bodies. The smell of burnt oxygen lingered all over the vicinity. Smoking craters and scarred earth blemished the once beautiful emerald field.

Every time impact was made between the black colored lightsabers and the crimson ones, debris and dust were thrown away. The earth itself was cracked under the titanic gravity of the battle between the two fearsome warriors. The graceful mastery of arts of lightsaber combat that the warriors performed had been heavily tampered with brutal efficiency. No more the duo implemented the bewitching swings of the Shii-Cho and the elegant thrusts of Makashi, for they had long traded them for the beautiful yet utterly deadly strikes of Vaapad and the relentless Force combination assaults of Niman.

Silence reigned between the two, as they let their actions spoke louder than any voice. The buzzing hums and the fizzes from the grinding energy blades reverberated throughout the field. Even though wounded, the dark clone proved himself to be an adversary that could not be underestimated for a second. The Sith's expertise in two lightsabers combat, especially with his unique Ataru form, had pushed Starkiller to fight with even greater ferocity and tactfulness. Against the dark clone's somersaults and cartwheels that preceded his deadly slashes, Starkiller would counter it with the deflecting and parrying attacks of Soresu. Still, with every successful parrying and deflecting of the Sith's attack, Starkiller had less success in delivering counter blows to the Sith. Ever since the Sith was wounded from Starkiller's shrewd counterattack, the dark clone of Galen Marek had been extremely wary of his twin's irregular patterns of attack. The dark clone had been avoiding Starkiller's strikes that always connected with his redirections, with the greatest caution. Even so, maskless Starkiller refused to concede defeat against his enemy, and increased the swiftness of his assaults. Brutal style of attacks and unpredictable counterattacks intensified the lethality of duel between Starkiller and the dark clone.

Starkiller might be the less aggressive party in the lethal duel on that field, but the lightning clad clone was far from being losing. He might be unable to land successful blows on the Sith, but in fact he was holding powerful dominance in the battle. The armor-clad Starkiller was not losing any single ground, nor was he forced to step back. The Force master's prowess was showingthe signs of overpowering the dark clone's skills. Starkiller had proven himself to be a more than a match for his evil twin, as he masterfully held his ground and advanced to gain even more by pushing the Sith backwards and backwards. Slashes were dodged, kicks were evaded, and salvos of lightning-imbued spherical missiles were blasted by another salvo of energy missiles; yet no ground was conceded to the dark clone.

Against the dominating stance of the maskless warrior, the dark clone of Galen Marek grinded his teeth in extreme displeasure while dodging a sharp thrust from the black colored lightsaber to his face. The smell of burned air stung his nostrils as the energy blade passed rather harmlessly near his head. As he distanced himself away from series of slashes that connected with the previous thrust, the dark clone's mind fell into frustration. Few minutes ago, the pitiful and wishy-washy clone of Galen Marek was ripe to be slain. Then somehow, he gained inner strength to match and even managed to wound the Sith!

"Curses!" The Sith hissed as he leaped and slammed his lightsabers in a vicious downward slash to cleave the Jedi-ish clone, only to be easily evaded by the target as he spun himself to the sideway from the attack. He connected his evasion with another roundhouse kick to the landing Sith; his armored sole slammed powerfully to the dark clone's back, pushing him far and forcing him to kiss the ground in humiliation.

"RARRRRGGHRR!" the dark clone bellowed. He quickly rolled and skillfully rose to the standing position from the ground. Dirt did not fleck his garments and his face, thanks to the Force layer all over the surface of his body. Yet the dark clone felt the flaming stung of degradation on his face. In his mind, he cursed the Force-damned bald-headed man that had cost him the chance to flay his Force-forsaken more curses in his mouth, the dark clone then Force-dashed to his foe with his crimson lightsabers in each of his hands. His weapons were spread wide like a pair of falcon's wings.

* * *

His foe, the silver-armored Starkiller, was waiting for the approaching Sith. He was already in his battle-stance, with one lightsaber held in reverse grip, extended in front. The other lightsaber in his other hand was extended upward; its blazing tip was facing forward. His countenance was unchanged; the neutrally frowning face of the clone was peering deeply toward the furious enemy. He could see that the dark clone's flaming auburn eyes, which blazed beneath the thin layer of cackling lightning, was now burning even brighter in orange glow. Angry snarl on the Sith's mouth and the furrowing scowl between the his eyes indicated that it was his turn to lose his cool. His reason had been taken over by the will of the dark side; his eagerness to end Starkiller's life was multiplied a hundredfold.

Starkiller, through his Force-enhanced sense, became aware of the change within his enemy. He detected the considerable escalation in the dark clone's , he too, detected the declining of his enemy's reason. In the deadly duel which involved the skillful control of the Force, loss of focus and sense of reasoning would result in a very deadly consequence. Planning his next steps carefully, Starkiller braced for the incoming attack from the dark-sided aggressor.

The two met again in combat. The Sith was relentless in his vicious slashes and stabs, but Starkiller responded them in the same valor with his ripostes. The Force master's dodging and blocking, which followed by vicious slashes and thrusts were more than enough to further aggravate his evil twin.

"WHY?! WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST DIE?!" The Sith roared as he tried to sweep his foe's legs, who already leaped to his behind. The maskless warrior pressed his offensive to the dark clone by swinging down his twin lightsabers hard. Even though enraged, the Sith still managed to block them skillfully by delivering his lightsabers to the back, intercepting Starkiller's energy blades with his own. Pushing the black colored lightsabers and their wielder away, the dark clone spun himself to face his armor-clad twin, and deftly brought down his wrath upon him. The fizzes of energies erupted once again as the battle continued with each lightsaber bouncing and grinding against one another.

"WHY?!" The Sith's monstrous roar magnified his already terrifying visage a hundred fold.

"Because-the-Force-sustains-me!" Starkiller responded with difficulty, but the seriousness of his tone displayed his unyielding fortitude. His expression was unfazed by the dark clone's bellow. The armor-clad clone's parrying, that followed by flurry of slashes was successful in sending the Sith away to his back. "You're-fighting-against-the-Force!"

"YOU'RE LYING!" The dark clone unleashed the hails of lightning from his fingers toward Starkiller. The latter blocked them with one lightsaber that he swung it in circular motion. The dark side energy of Sith's lightning was absorbed harmlessly by Starkiller, who deftly returned it to the dark clone with a powerful blast by his other hand. The dark clone was forcefully thrown away by the mighty push, and once again he was painfully dropped to the ground.

"You're blinded by rage, thus ruining your link to the force!" Starkiller exclaimed to the downed foe. The Force attack had put a moderate distance between the dark clone and him. Seeing the crackling screen of lightning departed from the body of the rising Sith, Starkiller suppressed his rage. Immediately, the thin layer of bluish lightning, that blanketed his entire outer shell, subsided. "It's over, Sith! I have greater advantage over you!"

"You underestimate my might, Jedi!" The dark clone slurred. His countenance was now a face of a madman, with dirt and mud stained the greenish-pale complexion of his face. He extended his hands toward the nearby trees, and immediately, they were pulled violently from the soil where they were rooted. The trees were floating menacingly in the air, waiting to do the dark clone's bidding.

"EAT THIS!" The Sith pushed his hand toward Starkiller, and the floating trees instantly darted toward the silver-armored clone. The driving force that launched the trees was fearsome, as it was shown by how they dashed through the air, despite of their sheer massive size did not impede the speed which they were travelling with. Closing nearer and nearer to the armor-clad clone, the trees were ready to crush and trample the armor-clad clone under their mammoth forms.

Despite of already sending out his attack, the Sith was spurred by his rage to deliver a successive attack toward his opponent. Immediately after throwing the lumbers to his Jedi-ish twin, the dark clone dashed along the side of the flying lumbers that he launched, and jumped powerfully toward the reviled clone of Galen Marek. His blazing red lightsabers in his hands, were extended high above his head. Should the silver-armored clone destroy or evade the trees from crushing him, the dark clone would be ready to strike the finishing blow on him. By exploiting his distraction from avoiding the crushing death by the trees, the dark clone was confident that his ploy would finally seal the fate of his Force-damned twin.

In the face of the fast approaching lumbers of enormous size, Starkiller deactivated both of his lightsabers and holstered them to his belt. He brought his hands together, with each palm clasped against one another like a praying pose. His eyes were closed and his mind was empty. The only sound that he heard was the beating of his heart, which tempo descended from fast pace to a calmer rate. As the massive lumbers were closing in, Starkiller opened his now-flaring eyes and brought up his legs and hands to his chest. The invisible energy of the Force sustained the clone in the air; and quickly the giant, rippling globe of energy appeared and enveloped Starkiller within it. Before the speeding lumbers could ever touched the massive sphere of condensed energy, the Force master shot out his limbsinto different directions; his arms and legs were spread out wide. Instantaneously, the preserved energy that was contained within the giant sphere was set loose, unleashing powerful energy of nigh-insurmountable force to its surroundings.

This was the signature technique of Galen Marek in the way of the Force that passed to those who shared his bloodline, namely his clones. This was the unparalleled Force Repulse, the Force technique that hailed not from either the dark side or the light side; yet possessed the most destructive power among Starkiller's other Force abilities.

* * *

Shooting out the gathered energy outward, the Force Repulse sent out powerful kinetic waves which power equaled the might of thousand tsunamis. The speeding massive lumbers of death stood no chance against the sheer force of the mighty burst of energy. The outward blast that Starkiller unleashed quickly washed through the massive wooden debris. Upon impacting with the furious torrent of the Force, the trees were quickly shattered. Timbers were ripped apart straight away by the mighty and invisible wall of energy that kept on expanding out. Giant logs of wood were reduced into splinters, while the smaller and weaker ones were immediately disintegrated into nothingness. The surviving shrapnel and chips of the once mighty trees were repelled hotly toward Starkiller's opponent like plasma projectiles shot out from a blaster.

The Sith was not spared from the might of his foe's titanic Force Repulse, as he was washed away by the blast. Thanks to his Force-enhanced physical resistance, the dark clone was able to withstand the fearsome waves of the compressed air and lightning, thus saving him from disintegration. However, pain was not on the list of the things that he withstood. When the raw power of the Force repulse passed through the floating dark clone,the powerful bursts of air and the stinging electric impulses ran through the Sith forcefully like a raging stampede. The dark clone was tossed away by the violent blast of air, tugging his body backward powerfully. Not only that, the biting agony of the lightning that wreathed his body and coursed through his veins forced him to lurch overwhelmingly in the mid-air. His sonorous yell of pain was drowned into the booming explosion of the Force burst.

The kinetic surge that the Force repulse unleashed was so ferocious that It tore off the Sith's lightsabers from his hands. His defeated body was flung speedily across the air; wiggling awkwardly like a rag doll, and waiting to be mercifully put down upon the hard soil. Unfortunately, such thing did not happen according to his wishes. It was neither pleasant nor painless experience when the Sith was hovering haplessly in the air; for the jetting shrapnel and splinters of the heavily mangled trees shot through the his body. Even though they flew out in wild directions, the plethora of spiky scraps still managed to find the fleshy end to be nested in. Sharp fragments of lumber dug deep into the flesh of the dark clone. The Sith's dark garb was torn and ridden with holes, as sharp fragmented shells-like wooden debris, indiscriminately and painfully bombarded his body.

* * *

"Kriffing Sithspawn!" The dark clone winced painfully as a sharp splinter grazed his neck. His twitching body was jetting helplessly in the air, as both pain and weariness coursed through it mercilessly. His state of defenselessness soon brought fury and frustration into his mind.

Time seemed to lengthen its pitiless pace, as the dark clone drifted across the air. Some semblance of reason in his mind tried to call forth the Force to break his fall. But due to the overwhelming frustration and anger that clouded his thoughts, such feat could not be hatred to his twin was plastered in the Sith's face; his mind was filled with thousand curses and vile designs to break the silver-armored warrior. The was waiting unpleasantly for the rough landing on the hard ground, before he could launch himself up and delivered his most fearsome vengeance upon his most abhorred twin.

Then, all of the sudden, shadow crept over him, as something had risen to block the sun. The dark clone, feeling the sudden darkness and a slight flash that accompanied it, lifted his eye-lids slowly, only to have them unfurled the dark clone saw was his armor-clad twin, descending swiftly toward him. Upon his countenance was the hardened expression of a vengeful warrior. In his hands were his signature twin black-as-night lightsabers. The way that they were raised high above his head was likened the fangs of a ferocious Ralltiir Tiger, arcing wide before sinking down in lethal finality to the flesh of its prey.

The dark clone was manic with utter terror and disbelief, as he looked clearly to the sight that would probably be his last. How could the scum like his Jedi-ish twin be the one that defeated him, the perfect Sith that one day would oust both Vader and the Emperor?

The dark clone's instinct to survive quickly overruled his panicky and disorganized mind, and he quickly mustered his remaining strength to pull a defensive act against the incoming blow. He attempted to call forth the Force to aid him, trying to pull his thrown off lightsabers back into his hands. Unfortunately, the muscles of his limbs had been numb from the pain, and his sense of touch had been crippled from the agony. The damage and the wounds inflicted by the lightning, compressed air blasts, and sharp wooden fragments had effectively paralyzed the body of the Sith.

The dark clone's entire being screamed for the Force to aid him immediately, but it was to no avail; not even a spark of answer came up to him. He was too wounded, too weary and too disoriented to link his connection to the source of the Dark Side.

"CURSES!" The Sith bellowed defiantly before the face of his inevitable demise. Rage and shock were plastered on his face. "CURSE Y-"

The Sith's words were cut off by the sharp fizzles of the twin night-colored lightsabers, as they hammered down hard into his tattered form. The energy blades stabbed deep into the Sith's chest, and burned through his flesh. The blazing tips of the Starkiller's signature lightsabers appeared before the Sith's back, showing that such energy weapons had little difficulty in piercing his physical exterior. With a horrifying thud, the body finally slammed into the ground; leaving the defeated laying on the ground and the victor kneeling atop of him.

The dark clone would never harm anyone, anymore.

* * *

Starkiller had won, but he did not felt victorious.

His grip on the handles of his still-flaring lightsabers was kept tightly. His pose did not decline from its vigilance and readiness, even though his muscles were stinging with weariness and soreness. His hasty breathing was slowing down to a normal rate, as indicated by the heaving of his chest. Sweats were trailing down his dirt-stained face, and sometimes they trickled to the corner of the Force master's eyes. They stung uncomfortably in his eyes, but he did not blink. His gaze was fixed unrelentingly to the form of the vanquished Sith, who was now lying haplessly on the ground.

The dark clone's chest was heaving weakly. His limbs were twitching faintly. Even though the hybrid expression of both incredulity and hatred was still plastered on his face, the dark clone's mouth was now gurgling with blood and spits. The weakening of his evil twin's life signs showed that he was struggling for his fleeting life-force defiantly, albeit such struggle was surely be in vain.

Starkiller had no love for the enemy that he had recently slain, but he too, could not help himself from feeling sorry for his enemy. He had resisted the lure of the dark side, and won the titanic by using a clearer mind and conscience; yet, his heart and mind were troubled by the sight he was currently seeing.

His slain enemy, the dark clone, might have been the champion of the dark side, and the perfect weapon of Darth Vader, the dark lord that Starkiller despised the most. But, in truth, he too, was another replica of Galen Marek, just like the victor himself. The Sith-sided replica might have been a very powerful and staunch devotee of the dark side of the force; but he too, shared the same memories and doubts just like him, albeit heavily tampered or maybe suppressed. When his lightsabers drove deep into the dark clone's heart, Starkiller swore that he felt the Sith's mute, heart-rending scream to the core of the Force itself when his connection to the Force was severed, and it resonated to The victorious Force master's connection as well! Although he already had a suspicion, Starkiller was greatly shocked and alarmed when he sensed the enemy's the now-severed link to the Force. It was the very mirror-image of his!

So, in a sense, Starkiller was not killing some kind of crazed Sith assassin, he was actually killing his own flesh and blood. Although there was no definite proof to confirm that there was a link of siblinghood between the clones of the same template, Starkiller could not shake off the uncomfortable thoughts that he might have killed his own brother.

"Y…ou,kh…fool!" The Sith suddenly coughed; shattering Stakiller's train of thoughts. The words came out from the dark clone's mouth was with a great strain, for more black blood and revolting content were gagging out with his coughing. The Force master quickly deactivated his lightsabers; the blazing blades of energy, with color as dark as the night, zapped out from the existence into nothingness. He removed the weapons from his hand, and put away his pressing foot from the torso of the dying foe.

"Y..ou,khk,…think…you…kkh…have…won….khhkk,..don't...kyou..kh?" The dark clone wheezed. His sentence was borderline unintelligible. The black-colored lightsabers had done a wondrous work by boring two holes of cauterized wound on the Sith's chest. The gaping holes was thoroughly burned that they let not a single drop of blood to drip from them. Still, the grassy ground was defiled by the oozing liquid life that the evil clone discharged from his mouth. "Yo..hkhk..u…are..wrong!"

Starkiller was moving closer to the dying foe's side, while planting his right palm on the Sith's fatal wounds. No energy from the Force coursed through his fingers for he had no intention to save the enemy. There was no Jedi teaching that compelled the user of the light side of the force to show mercy to the Sith, and there was no rule that forbade it either. Starkiller was not a Jedi, and he too, was not in the best terms with the dying Sith; yet, such thing did not prevent Starkiller from showing humane gesture to the defeated opponent.

"Save your strength." Starkiller dully said to the dying clone. His scowl still adorned his countenance, but he had no longer any intention to further harming the Sith. Instead of hostility, pity was what Starkiller felt as he saw his dying foe before him. "You're already defeated."

S-s-s-save..your..kkrrh..pity..Jedi!" The dark clone put up a defiant mock to Starkiller. His scornful gaze of auburn, although failing, was still piercing deep to Starkiller's eyes. "I…kh..don't…kkhe…need..khh…them...Don't…kkkh...thinkkkhh…that...this…is..over!"

"What are you talking about?" Starkiller frowned in confusion.

"khekhekhekhekhe..hrk..you…are..just..khrk…a...tool,…Vader's..kkhk...pet!" The dark clone spat spitefully. "My…khrk..death-means...hrrk..nothing…..hhrrk...com…hrk...pared..to...khrrk..the…terror…hrk...that…comes…khrk..after!"

Starkiller's frown turned darker. What did the Sith mean by the "terror"? What would follow after his death?

"Soon…hrk…this…hrk...back..hr..water..khh...planet…will..burn,…and..kh…you….along…with…kh..it..." The choking Sith was tethering desperately at the edge of his fleeting life. "Yo..hrk...u..will..hrk..die,..and..there's…hrk…nothing…you..can…do..to…hrk…stop..it…."

The dark clone's words ended abruptly with his mouth gaping wide. Foul blood caked all around his lips, the corner of his mouth, and all the way of his chin. His eyes, widely and wildly exposed, bore a dead hateful gaze which had lost its spark of life. All that remained in them was the Sith's bloodshot auburn stare.

Life finally passed unpeacefully and painfully from the dark clone of Galen Marek.

* * *

"May the Force accept you into its eternal embrace." Starkiller whispered as he pulled down the eyelids of the dead clone with his hand. His years of experience and meditation had taught him that every life, be it born from the dark or from the light, was equal before the Force. Thus, no matter how evil or how virtuous his foe maybe, Starkiller would never deny his enemy from his last rite.

Starkiller had slain his Sith twin, but he did not feel happier with it. Instead of relief, he felt perturbed. The ominous threat that his enemy had announced as his last words, plagued into the Force master's mind. Such threat might be his final defiant action against Starkiller, yet it did not sound hollow, like the ones given by the Trandoshan bounty hunters during Starkiller's days as a "Lightsaber-for-hire". It sounded of a deathly promise of a foreboding storm that would certainly come and unleash its promised wrath. Even though shadowy, the disturbance in the Force showed the signs that there was no untruth in the dead Sith's final words; it was the otherwise.

He rose to his feet, while his mind delved deeper into the slain enemy's last words. A light stroke from a breeze to his dusty face, disenchanted Starkiller from his thoughts. He became aware to his surroundings, and was struck with bewilderment immediately.

Starkiller turned his sight all around to capture the landscape into his eyes. He turned once more while blinking profusely, as he could not believe what he was currently seeing in his eyes.

The Force master knew that he was in some kind of a field or maybe a grassy plain, which vast expanse was barred from four sides. What barring those sides of the grassy field were high and majestic partitions, made from white stones. The walls on both left and right from Starkiller's position, were adorned with hollow archways that ran along the entire sides of the said walls. Two silo-like structures stood erect at both corner of the wall, where each rear end of the right-side wall and the left-side wall met with both edges of the hindmost partition. Meanwhile, both front tips of the left and right walls were connected to the large rounded wall of a circular platform, which at its top stood a tall spire with triangular supporting fins running along its rounded surface. The white spire, although was not as tall as the towering structures of Corruscant, possessed a certain beauty in its own right. Bathed in the sunlight, the immaculate shell of the white tower gleamed beautifully.

Scanning the other parts of the area, Starkiller saw several healthy shrubs and pine trees adjacent to the walls. Their hale and hearty greenness reminded him to the hilly plains of Alderaan. Yet, the structures of stones around him did not resemble the ones that he saw in the lush planet of the Alliance. The buildings that he saw were not only odd in style, but also….archaic in fashion.

Starkiller did not know where or what planet he and his evil twin were transported to. He couldn't even tell how both of them got into this location in the first place. All that he knew was that he had previously locked in a struggle between two deadly Force lightning with his evil twin; in a highly clandestine facility in Kamino named Rakesh. All of the sudden, he and his dark-sided foe were pulled into a green bubble of energy that appeared out of nowhere; and with a blinding flash, they were teleported into an unknown location where they were currently situated.

When Starkiller and his evil clone firstly arrived to the unknown place, he was confused; and was even greatly confused when he found a bunch of younglings, draped in strange uniform of black cloaks and white shirts. He had suspected them to be students, and it was further reinforced with the presence of an adult that look like a teacher to them. The same confusion had also been drawn on the face of the dark clone, especially when he noticed a large, strange winged beast of blue standing behind the younglings. Due to the presence of the Sith, those oddities were quickly disregarded, as they clashed against one another in mortal combat.

And now, with the duel being concluded, confusion returned to Starkiller, followed by the feeling of being lost.

"Where in the bantha' s backside, did I end up into?" Starkiller thought out loud. His bewilderment was quickly faded when he heard something amiss not far from his position.

* * *

Picking faint shriek and sobs in the air, Starkiller turned his sight to where the students huddled together. He then saw a laying figure on the ground, surrounded by the children. Suddenly, realization of the transpired event came back to him like a powerful slap across his face.

"Oh, Force!" Starkiller remembered the bald stranger, whose action had given him the chance to fight back his evil twin. As the result for his action, the bald one had been painfully electrocuted by the dark clone, and now he was laying on the ground- withering slowly and painfully to the death.

The armor-clad Force master hastily sauntered across the grassy field with broad stride, toward the grim crowd. Concern and fear quickly rose to his visage, as the sound of sadness getting thicker and thicker with the ever reducing distance between the Force Master and the mob. Leaving the corpse of the Sith behind, Starkiller could only hope that his unknown savior had not been badly injured or killed from the Sith's cruel lightning.

Starkiller did not know who the mysterious man was. The only thing that he knew about the bald stranger was that he was brave enough to stood up in Starkiller's defense against the dark clone, even though his strength was terribly lacking compared to Starkiller's evil twin. Beyond that, he knew nothing about the stranger anymore. Even so, Starkiller had no intention to let the man who had risked his life for the stranger he didn't even know to die.

* * *

The victorious clone finally arrived to the crowd, only to find them cowering away from his presence. The younglings were even more fearful than before, as he moved to approach them.

Before Starkiller could proceed any further to the fallen stranger, he was barred by a little bespectacled girl of blue hair. Despite of her surprisingly small and thin body frame, the blue-haired girl stood imposingly before him, while the other younglings huddled and whimpered behind her. The little girl, whose body frame was likened a stick, had a face of indifference on her. Though neutral, her dull expression seemed to conceal her readiness to do battle with the maskless Force master, as how it was indicated by the fiery gaze of her eyes, and her pose before him. Her crooked staff, gripped tightly in her hands, was raised high against Starkiller; the unfamiliar weapon of the youngling seemed ready to launch strange projectile against the armor-clad Force master.

Not only was the blue-haired girl, the winged beast that stood behind the crowd was also glaring irately toward the concerned Force master. The giant reptilian being was growling threateningly toward Starkiller. It was clear that both of them perceived the silver-armored clone of Galen Marek as a threat, and it was not a surprise; since they all had seen the eerie resemblance between Starkiller and his evil twin, and that they had also witnessed how devastating and deadly the duel between the two Force users.

While the girl and the beast fixed their gaze wrathfully toward him, Starkiller managed to notice that the other younglings, with stranger but smaller animals on their embrace, were clustering together tightly. Some of them stole a glance at him; but quickly close their eyes, and hurriedly turned their face to the other way with fear. Looking back to the blue-haired girl and the winged beast, Starkiller spotted a slight trembling on their bodies when his gaze connected with theirs. Despite of their courageous bearing to stand in defense for the other students and animals, the tinge of fear in toward the clone was absolutely transparent in them.

Slightly giddy from sensing the fear of the younglings, Starkiller realized that he would not accomplished his objective to save the unknown savior if the younglings were immensely terrified of him. Added with the fact that the children was mumbling unrecognized language alongside of their whimpers and sobs, Starkiller had to do something fast to allay their fear. With every passing minute would bring the fallen baldheaded man closer to his demise, Starkiller wasted no more time. He intended to use the mind trick toward the youngling. But fearing that the Force trick would have a negative effect on their minds, Starkiller opted for more primitive method.

Starkiller slackened his hardened expression into a compliant one. His frown dissolved, leaving only a serious, but sympathetic look in his eyes. He raised his hand above his head with a deliberately measured pace, a universal gesture of submission.

The blue-haired student was alarmed at first; but seeing no sign of hostility from the man before her and that he had a face of worry and concern, she relaxed her piercing stare toward the man, and slightly lowered her wooden staff. Even though her crooked staff was still raised, the blue-haired girl somehow seemed to be able to read the armor-clad stranger's expression. The youngling appeared to understand what the Force Master intended to do, and was going to give way for him. But, before she could do so, a flash of pink shoved her aside from behind and darted toward the clone.

* * *

"S-S-S-STUPID MONSTER!" the pink-haired little girl that was Louise yelled while pounding hard on the torso of the mysterious….thing that she had probably summoned. "Y-Y-YOU KILLED PROFESSOR COLBERT!"

The little Tristainian continued to rain fists to the armor plate that protected the unknown person's body. Due to the stark difference of the heights between Louise and the man in strange silver armor, the pink-haired girl's fist could only reach the region below the man's chest. She was trying to dent the mysterious person's armor plate by unleashing furious flurry of blows upon it. Despite of the still lingering fear that embedded deeply in her body and mind, Louise kept on banging the body of the stranger. Her anger, due to her summoned beings' ruining the day, overwhelmed her terror. The fact that the stranger before her had the capabilities to do things incomprehensible, was quickly disregarded.

Yet, due to the unearthly hardness of the armor plate that protected the man's body, Louise's beating seemed to have a little to no effect to the stranger, who was now wearing a face of perplexity.

"YOU MONSTER! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO RUIN EVERYTHING?!" The youngest of the Valliere sobbed, as she thumped her forehead to the stranger's. His hands were reddened with sores; her eyes and her nose were runny with watery substances. She had no idea who or what the stranger before her was, and she was greatly horrified because of it. The pink-haired little Tristainian had seen everything from the moment when she woke up. She had been nearly killed by the unnerving spinning blade of red light, rescued by the stranger before her, and watched how everything unfolded before her very eyes.

She was greatly disturbed when the battle between the strangers happened. Although the garments that they wore and the weapons that they wielded could be likened almost closely to the equipment and arms of respectively the white knight and the dark knight of the children's tale, the battle that the strangers made against one another was far from the story.

The duel between the two unknown persons was both titanic and monstrous. Louise was frozen stiff when she witnessed purple-colored lightning bolts shot out fiercely from their fingers. She was stupefied when she saw those unnerving black and red blades of light flew out from the stranger's hands, and spun deathfully in the air. The beautiful, yet deadly flashes from the clashing of the blades mesmerized the little pink-haired girl with fear and wonder. Even though the buzzing hums of light the blades alarmed her greatly to the bones, Louise was hypnotized by the trailing lights of black and red that lingered in the air.

Louise also witnessed the duel of lightning and radiance between the strangers reached its brutal maturity, when her favorite teacher, Jean Colbert, stepped into the fray and suffered dearly for his action. Maybe because of his outer appearance, or maybe because of his speedy action in saving Louise from imminent death; under no apparent reason, the bald-headed educator of Tristain Academy of Magic decided to help the silver-armored stranger from a grave predicament. As the result, his successful interruption had reaped him a painful torture by the Brimir-damned lightning from the stranger in black. Although it did not last long, and the perpetrator had been slain, Louise could still hear the professor's scream of utter pain echoing in her ears.

"BECAUSE OF YOU, HE IS DYING, YOU MURDERER!" Louise continued to sob into the man's torso, pouring out her overwhelming and jumbled emotion that already flooded her eyes. Her aching and tired arms finally thumped for the last time, as her little fists planted on the armor plate and slid down slowly. She was crying loud, losing herself in sorrow, when all of the sudden the stranger lowered himself and circled his strong arms around her in a kindly embrace.

Louise was at loss of words,….and was at loss of action as well. She was silent and still like a stone statue when the stranger embraced her tightly. Nervous gasps of shock erupted behind her; no doubt her classmates were watching the entire happening with their eyes and mouth wide open. Louise too, was scared beyond her wits. What if the embrace was a fake one? What if the stranger had nefarious intention beneath the kindly gesture? What if he intended to kill her and the other students after the hug? Fortunately, such thing did not happen for Louise did not feel any malice from the stranger's warm embrace. One of the stranger's hand pushed Louise's head onto the man's shoulder. Her reddened cheek was pushing against the cold plates of the silver pauldron, while her long pink hair was stroke in a calming manner. She could hear the stranger's whispers, which she understood not one bit. Even though the words felt foreign in her ears, the little Tristainian could felt the reassuring content within, as how they calmed the storm within her mind.

* * *

"Don't worry. I am not your enemy." Starkiller softly said while calming down the strange pink-haired youngling. He did not knew if the pink-haired youngling understood any word that he said, since he was totally unfamiliar with the language that the little one had yelled to him. But seeing her becoming quiet and still, Starkiller knew that his gesture and words had performed their purpose like magic.

Initially, the Force master was shocked when the girl with the most bizarre hair color assaulted him with her little fists, and yelled at him with unrecognized tongue. Although Starkiller was unhurt, he could not just shove her aside. Such thing would only show to the crowd that he was some kind of unsympathetic bully, no matter how pure his intention might be; and that thing would certainly impede his attempt to rescue the laying and dying bald-headed. Using the experience he had in the slums of Ryloth, Starkiller simply hugged the youngling as a silent statement that he meant no harm toward her and the others. If such action had worked perfectly fine to the Twi'lek children, why wouldn't it achieve the same result with these younglings?

The outcome was as Starkiller had predicted: the girl was calmed down and the onlookers were now loosening up a bit, albeit still sorrowful. Seeing the girl in his embrace had been consoled, Starkiller quickly released her and rose to his feet. Before he made his way to the laying man behind her, he saw a worried look on the face of the pink-haired girl. The expression on her face was a mute pleading; a silent implore of "Please save him!"

No words came out from her mouth, yet Starkiller understood it all too well. After nodding slightly to girl, the Force master walked passing her.

When Starkiller approached to the laying man, he had no idea what the bald-headed victim had suffered. To his terror, he found the man to be almost heavily deformed. His skin turned sagged, and was corrugated heavily with deep wrinkles and creases. The color of his skin turned deathly pale. His muscles seemed to be thinning drastically; revealing bony features of the bald man's body. The small patch of hair had turned bony white.

The bald-headed man, who was laying in an almost fetal position on the grassy ground, was trembling and coughing profusely. His current pathetic state betrayed the intense struggle in the man's withering shell for his own life.

Strakiller quickly recognized the symptoms; it was the fearsome result of being directly exposed to the Sith lightning. Such utilization of the dark side of the Force had varied results, depending on the intensity of the Force and the purpose of its use. But the vilest of all application of the Force lightning was its use to physically transform its victim. Considered as one from the many forms of Sith sorceries, the Sith version of Force lightning was powerful enough to physically transform its victim according to the whim of its conjurer. In one application, a powerful Sith lord could use the Sith lightning to enthrall and transform his / her victim of any kind, be it sentient being or dull animal, into a powerful mutant slave, forever bound to its Sith slave master. But in another application, Sith lightning was used a means of torture; transforming its victim into a creature with deteriorating form as to prolong or to intensify the victim's suffering and agony.

Thanks to his Force-enhanced resilience, Starkiller could resist the ruining effect of the Sith lightning, although he still felt the debilitating pain and agony inflicted by such force technique. Yet, unfortunately for the now-laying bald-headed, he was now suffering extremely for being the victim of the Sith sorcery.

* * *

As Starkiller move closer to the dying stranger, he noticed a female student had already beside the deformed bald-headed. Kneeling beside the man that Starkiller presumed as the teachers of the younglings, the girl, who had the most bizarre hairstyle of drill-like curls, was trepidatiously chanting unrecognized words while waving her wooden stick despairingly to the dying man. Her grip on her stick was wavering, while tears ran down from her eyes to her reddened cheeks like flood water. Frustration and sorrow were thick in her sob-filled voice and in her expression, as whatever she did to the dying man were all for naught. Her chants turned into a wail, as the girl threw her stick away forlornly, and buried her face into her palms.

Before Starkiller dropped himself beside the man, a male student with short blonde hair quickly approached the sorrowful girl and brought her away from the misshapen man, who lay miserably on grassy soil. The golden-haired boy quickly enveloped his arms around the curly-haired girl, who seemed to be inconsolable. Her expression, revealed only after the girl had been persuaded to remove her hands from her face, seemed to lose all of her vitality. Almost stumbling on her feet, the curly-haired girl had to be carried by the blonde boy, in order to prevent her from falling down. She was promptly led away from the sight that wrecked her heart so badly.

* * *

After the grief-stricken girl left , Starkiller promptly stooped beside the dying teacher. Kneeling with both of his legs kissing the ground, Starkiller, with his eyes closed and his mind focused, mustered his remaining strength to call forth the power of the Force. The toll of the previous battle gradually weighed down on the clone's body; weariness and soreness were stinging on every part of his frame. Even so, he had no wish to deny the miserable victim of the Sith from the chance of life, no matter how miniscule it was. Stars! The stranger had risked his life for Starkiller; it could be considered a blood debt and the clone would rather choose eternal damnation if he disregarded such debt.

Remembering what his old cranky mentor had taught, the Force master extended his open hand toward the heavily deformed man before him, and began to meditate.

* * *

"_Listen, Starkiller!" Rahm Kota said annoyedly to the yawning Force master in the cafeteria aboard the __**Just Vengeance**__, one of the Alliance flagship, which was now doing its routine patrol around the Calamari sector. "The core of the Force heal is not only for mending physical wounds."_

"_Yes, I know it already, old man." Starkiller replied disinterestedly. Both Force masters were having a heated discussion on an empty table, waiting for the debriefing from Juno after finishing a simple escort mission. "It is meant to heal the spirit, too. I have heard it for hundred times now."_

"_Then, you still don't get it!" The old veteran hissed with his eerie blind eyes glaring at the insolent youth. "Force healing was invented to combat the nefarious Sith sorcery. When done properly, the healing technique of the Force could purge the poison and the taint of the dark side!"_

"_I don't understand." Starkiller, whose interest was piqued by the old general's explanation, asked. "If such technique was so powerful, then how come the Sith was now the ruling force all over the galaxy?"_

"_Don't you ever hear what I have said?" Rahm Kota sighed with a frowned face when he saw Starkiller shook his head. "The Sith had not won, because we are still here! Besides, the Sith being the most dominant power over the galaxy has nothing to do with the true might of the Force healing. In ancient times, when both Sith and Jedi have not even came to existence yet, there was a primordial order of Force users, whose expertise in the way of the Force was unparalleled. One of their capabilities was to summon the power of the Force to heal the physical and spiritual wound. The energy that they summoned for such restorative technique was likened a powerful light that burned the darkness away, yet it did not hail from either light side or the dark side. With the progressing of ages, only a handful of Jedi masters knew of such power."_

"_So, you are implying that this "true" form of Force healing has now been lost forever?" Starkiller cut in with a skeptical look._

"_I didn't say that!" Rahm Kota retorted. His tone indicated that he was slightly displeased with the youth's manner. Still, his displeasure did not hamper his intention to explain the matter further to Starkiller. "What I meant to say is that the true form of the Force healing could still be resurrected, and who knows, it could probably be brought back to life by your hands, boy."_

* * *

Starkiller's hands suddenly glowed bright, as energy of the Force converged into his palms.

"Let's see if your teaching is right, old man." Starkiller mumbled to himself. "Reaching deeply…into the Force…to mend the flesh…..and heal the spirit!"

Ending his words, Starkiller drove his extended hands toward the victim's frame, relaying the energy of the force to the shriveled body of a dying man. The body of the misshapen bald-headed man was soon jerked upward when the energy of the Force permeated into the man's deformed flesh.

More loud intakes of breath and fearful yelps were voiced by the younglings, when they saw the malformed body of their teacher was tugged by unseen power. They suspected the stranger with glowing hands had something to do with it. Their suspicion was proven true when the same glow of brightness enveloped all over their bald-headed teacher. The children, albeit fearful, began to extend their arms toward the stranger. They intended to stop whatever the silver-armored man was doing after seeing the shriveled face of their teacher wincing painfully. Yet before their fingers could touch him, the unforeseen happened.

The bald-headed man, although gritting his already-yellowed teeth in pain, started to regain his healthy form. The saggy skin grew tighter as muscles beneath the fleshy shell expanded exponentially. Creases and wrinkles started to fade away, and the fair-pinkish color of healthiness began to crawl into his skin. His wheezing turned into a normal breathing, with now his healthy broad chest heaving in orderly cadence. The little patch of hair that the bald-headed possessed, returned from its sickly white to his previous brown. Loud groan from the recovering bald-headed was heard

"C'mon! Hang in there! Just a little bit more!" Starkiller said, as he heard the groans of pain from the baldheaded teacher. The Force master exerted more of his strength to detect and cleanse the venom of the dark side within the laying man. His forehead furrowed deeper and his hand trembled moderately. Sweats began to pour down from his head to his neck. His mind was focused deeply in finding and purging the deteriorating poison that his Sith twin had inflicted upon the unfortunate man. Despite of his tedious concentration, Starkiller could still pick up the nervous chattering behind and around him. Although Starkiller do not understand any words that the bystanders shouted out, he could understand their tone of shock and incredulity.

"Uggghhh." The bald-headed man groaned even louder, even if his countenance turned healthier by seconds. The thick blackened pockets under his eyes were diminishing quickly, leaving only few thin pouches of skin below them; a normal trait for a man of his age.

"Just….hang…in…there!" Starkiller encouraged the man while his body rattled tremendously. The Force master was now running in fumes; he felt his strength faltering greatly and his consciousness fading rapidly. Starkiller never knew that pulling such Force technique would require so great of his willpower and vigor. His already weary mind and body were now tested in a very difficult trial, which would decide the life or death of an innocent soul. Even though his mental and physical fortitude were failing rapidly, Starkiller had no intention to concede defeat. He would make sure that this man before him lived.

"There…..is….freedom, and there….is…unity." Starkiller chanted his own mantra to bolster his failing strength. It only bought him a little more time to find and the purge the last taint of the dark side. Finding it finally, Starkiller pumped the entire energy of the Force into the body of the laying man.

"For….I..am..the..FORCE!" The Force master yelled as the pumped energy of the Force burned away the last taint of corruption. The laying man yelled loudly as the light that enveloped his body flashed in blinding brilliance. Starkiller and the younglings shielded their eyes from heavy intensity of the light. Thankfully, the blinding flash only lasted for a few seconds before it finally died down.

* * *

Putting their hands away from their eyes, the youngling unlatched their eyelids and witnessed the result of the stranger's handiwork on their baldheaded teacher. Instead of finding a heavily deformed adult, the younglings found a healthy, breathing person laying on the ground, with his chest heaving normally. Every typical feature of the baldheaded man had returned to him. His skin, which had regained its healthy hue, was now clear from the unnatural wrinkles and creases. His body frame also had grown from its previous state of nearly skeletal into healthy plumpness. All in all, the bold stranger who had saved Starkiller's life, was now fully cured from the deteriorating taint of the dark side.

Starkiller smiled as he saw what the Force healing had done to the man before him. The baldheaded man, who lay unconsciously on the grassy ground, was now freely breathing the air of life once again. Shriek of both shock and joy quickly replaced the sorrowful mood of the younglings with relief and happiness, when they saw their teacher had been successfully restored to life. The yell of delight and the clapping of hands were infectious to the younglings. Yet, before it transmitted to everyone, a loud thud was heard.

Starkiller, the silver-armored stranger who had slain the black-garbed villain and restored the teacher of the younglings from the mouth of death, had fallen unconscious beside the man that he had saved.

All of the shouts and screams that followed after were fallen deaf to the ears of the Force master, as Starkiller drifted into the dreamless realm of sleep.

* * *

**I know, I know. You guys are probably displeased with the dark clone being dead in this chapter. Because of him being dead, Starkiller would probably curb-stomp everything in Halkegina, right?**

**Wrong.**

**I do want to have Starkiller having some "honeymoon" moment during his adventures in Halkegina, especially by pwning almost everything in that land. However, such moment would not be for long. Rest assured, I have already planned something on Halkegina that would prove challenging for the clone, and it would not be those silly conjurers and wand-wavers from FOZ realms. No, Starkiller would have hard time against the adversaries that I have in mind. He will fight armies of Sith monsters, and lords of the dark side! Besides, the dark clone is not the only clo…..I have said too much, haven't I?**

**Ahem, moving on to the other matter.**

**Honestly, when I saw your reviews (yes, I am talking to you, O Thunder God of the Norse mythology) and the numbers of the favs and follows, only one thing came into my mind that day. It was "WHAT THE HELL HAVE I DONE?!"**

**Seriously guys, I only released one chapter, which is ridden with mistakes, and you already poured out your most overwhelming interest into it. To say I am honored would just be an understatement and an insult to you all. Really, I am unworthy to you people patronage, but I will do my best to keep you all entertained.**

**To you my reviewers, especially Necrofantasia, Chronotimeguard, Darkerdeepdown, Cyricist001, and Z2010Deadmeat (aka THOR), I sense that you guys have the same concern in your reviews. Rest assured, for I will not have those wand-wavers "steroidized". There is no way in the hell that I would make FOZ magic be equal with the Force. Besides, how in the hell could those wooden sticks be toe-to-toe with the lightsabers?**

**About Starkiller, I do not and will not make him to be another oppressed and victimized pet of the little lady. No, I want to make him as epic as he has been in the games. I have been mesmerized by scene of Star Destroyer being pulled down, and being shot in half; and I intended to create the same scene again in this story (with or without the Star Destroyer…I am still considering about it). Nevertheless, Starkiller will show to the Halkeginians that Force….is the Force.**

**About Louise,..well, about Louise….she is a brat, but not a bad brat. She only have issues, and they are pretty bad issues, too. Still, Starkiller won't be playing as some kind of a dog for the little lady. He would still be her protector or some kind of that shit, but our hero will have another role, too. This other role will change the life of Louise (…and maybe, probably everyone else). Just imagine! Our little pink-haired lady, in a black robe, and instead of a wand in her hand, she have a ligh…I have said too much again. Dammit, why do you do this to me, brain? **

**About Romance…..this is hard stuff, very hard stuff. Why? Because Starkiller that I portrayed in this story had just getting over his feelings for Juno. Let's face it (SPOILERS HERE!), his obsession for the ex-pilot of the Empire was and is simply a mirror image from Galen Marek, his DNA template, and we know that Starkiller is NOT Galen Marek; he is just a clone, a very powerful clone. Although Starkiller in here was much mature and wiser than the one in game, he is still in experienced in the matter of love. In future, I will make a romance for Starkiller, but unfortunately, harem would be highly unlikely. Starkiller here would probably break many maiden hearts because of that…but what the hell, at least he got a girl!**

**About grammar, I will do my best to improve myself. Darkerdeepdown, your input is noted and I will do something about it.**

**About Tifa…sweet bo, I mean girl, sweet girl…..I am very sorry. Cyricist001, I will make it up for that kindly elf in other ways. Rest assured, Vader will have a role to play in this story.**

**About release…..I will do my BEST to update faster. Drake202, Darkcomedy, I will do my BEST about it.**

**Once again, I am very sorry for the very late release. I intended to have this chapter finish before new year's eve. However, to spare you all from boring tale, my dickish bosses had to ruin my plans. And for that, I am very sorry to you guys.**

**But let's put that gloomy and boring thoughts aside, because I want you people to pitch in your thoughts about who would be best to be Starkiller's love interest. Why? Because your ideas, my dear readers, are like gems in my eyes and diamonds in my mind; your ideas enlighten me in many ways that I can't articulate in words. Simply put, this unworthy me wants your ideas.**

**At last, this chapter is a tribute to Ellie Goulding. I'll always love your voice.**

* * *

_**Force is with you and around you…..for the Force….is you.**_


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